# Is my pigeon a boy?



## msmely (Feb 13, 2011)

The animal shelter I got her from said she was a girl and she was vet checked.

But I noticed she has very male like behaviour I think. She has seemed to take a liking to my dogs toy cow which she walks around while making a type of deep coo noise, dragging her tail on the floor and bopping her head up and down. Then she'll stand on the cow and kind of flap her wings. She's obsessed with this toy cow! Does she think it's her mate? I've never seen her act like this before.
She will also kind of peck it really gently and any other toy she's ever had she's viciously attacked it but not this cow.


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## RoderickGI (Jun 6, 2010)

Well, they say you will never know for sure until either it lays an egg, or a mate you get for it lays and egg, and it turns out to be fertile.

That said, walking in circles, dragging the tail with back feathers raised, bobbing the head, and producing a sort of chortling coo does seem to be the first step of male wooing procedure. 

But going straight to jumping on its back and trying to mate seems to have missed a couple of steps. Like inviting the female to inspect every possible nest site he has access to in his territory, using a deep Oor-Oor-Oor coo, and then sitting together with the male's head under the female, Oor-Oor-Oor cooing, shaking a wing, and possibly either bird preening around the other birds head and head bobbing, and finally an offer to feed the female which is accepted, or a request to be fed by the female, which the male obliges. Then the female sits down and allows the male to mount her.

At least, these are my observations of the process. Mind you, when we first got the female the male tried to immediately restrain and mount her. But that didn't work at all, because she is faster than him, and she can fly a little bit, while he can't really.

My male is doing Stage Two now in my office, having found a new spot next to the PC next to my desk. I think they may like the spot, since the female stayed under there until the male came out. What they don't know is that the nice boxes protecting the site get moved a lot, which they won't like!

Anyway, unless the animal shelter or vet did a genetic test they won't know for sure, even if they use one of the tests that some people say can determine the sex. You need to ask them if they did a genetic test for sex.

Also, at various times I have seen our female act similarly to the male, so in isolation I don't think the behaviour you have observed can be used to determine the sex of the bird. It does sound like "she" thinks the toy cow is one of her flock though, and possibly a pigeon, since it sounds like she has been preening it.

One last thought: Once you have a mate for it, if one of them eats more grit once wooing or mating has started it is probably the female. I use a red grit block [Pick Stone Mineral Block] for my birds and the female eats a lot of it, turning her poops red like little bricks! 

[Ah, the male is back under my desk looking for a nest site. He really likes this old favourite place, even though he is right under my feet when I'm using the PC. He likes being in the office when I am in here.  Wait, no, he is back in the cupboard behind me, cooing for his mate. Another favourite spot. Here she comes! ]


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## whytwings (Feb 12, 2011)

I had a Birmingham Roller that was infatuated with one of my dogs " father christmas " balls .....you know ....one of those annoying balls that squeek when you queeze them .
He used to parade in front of it dragging his tail feathers and lots of cooing , then he'd jump on top of it and mate with it  ......I hadn't seen anything like it before , but I used to end up in fits of laughter .......it was just so funny to watch !

I wasn't sure at the time.........but he's definately a *he*


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## Jeannine (Sep 10, 2010)

I was sure my homer was a boy, changed his name from Midge to Mitch. He was doing all the boy behavior; puffing, cooing, dancing, tail dragging...then he laid two eggs!!!
His name has been changed back to Midge.

Also my friend's mom paid extra to have blood tests done on two doves purchased from a pet shop; a bonified breeding pair. Years later, they turned out to both be females!


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