# Can we tame feral pigeons?



## ZMEU.NET (Mar 9, 2017)

Hello,
I care for several injured pigeons in my apartment. I have learned many about their behaviour: like other birds they prefer to stay on top of the tv or monitors, they like to stay on people shoulders or to rest under their arms, maybe they fell protected like under their parents wings.
One of these pigeons is really friendly: she walks on my leg and rest there. I can grab her and she does not run. She recovered physically 90%, but she will never recover from her trauma. So she is very aggressive with other pigeons, she has big wings and a very strong beak. Every night she has nightmares, even after 3 months: she makes weird scary sounds. If i will ever release her, she will be killed soon by other pigeons.
How can i develop more the communication with her?


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## cwebster (Dec 11, 2010)

Our first beloved pigeon was a severely injured feral. She became very tame and was our desrest love. Yes ferals can be tamed. We just spent time with her and played toys with her.


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## ZMEU.NET (Mar 9, 2017)

Can your pigeon come to you when you call her?


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## Colombina (Jan 22, 2017)

Hi, pigeons are really smart and learn their name. I adopted Aurora when she was a baby, she is really really friendly. She always sits on my legs/knees while I'm watching TV or reading, etc, flys on my head, follows me everywhere, etc. When I call her she comes to me (not always of course but even my beloved cat Kira sometimes didn't answer when I called her...). Even my other pigeons know their name: for example my pigeon Pulcino and his wife Londo have their nest on the top of wardrobe. When I call "Pulcino! Pulcio! Londo!" I saw them appearing and looking at me!

Try to spend time with your birds and to create a daily routine. Even my other pigeons sometimes sit on my leg or next to me. Try to understand what they like: one of my birds, Caterina, is a very private pigeon so not friendly. She is crazy for peas: every day, at around the same time, she cames to me, she follows me around the room, she flyes to her bowl then comes back to me, always looking at me. She is asking for peas! Pigeons are really communicative: try to understand what they are telling you, what they are asking for. My pigeons for example ask for fresh water, ask me to strip paper for their nest (they take it from my hands!), etc. 

In any case, you have to consider that each pigeon (like human!) has his own temperament.

What has happened to your pigeon? I have too a traumatized dove, she was badly injured by a predator, probably a seagull. I don't know how to help her to recover from her trauma.


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## Marina B (May 5, 2011)

Where does she sleep at night? If she sleeps somewhere low, then she won't feel safe. Try to get her to sleep on top of a cupboard or put her cage up somewhere high from the ground. You can also try to leave a bedside lamp burning during the night. Maybe that will help.


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## cwebster (Dec 11, 2010)

Columbina, we had a traumatized terrified pigeon, Lucy. For six months she would fly away from me and did not want to be touched. She relaxed and now is tame and loves to be petted gently...all we did was put her in a cage with another female, with whom she has bonded, where she feels safe.


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## ZMEU.NET (Mar 9, 2017)

So if you release your pigeon outdoor, does it come back to you like a dog?


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## Colombina (Jan 22, 2017)

cwebster said:


> Columbina, we had a traumatized terrified pigeon, Lucy. For six months she would fly away from me and did not want to be touched. She relaxed and now is tame and loves to be petted gently...all we did was put her in a cage with another female, with whom she has bonded, where she feels safe.


Thanks so much for sharing your experience, cwebster. I hope that even my dove, as time goes by, will feel relaxed as Lucy. 

Everyday, late in the morning, we get her out of her cage (we just open it), she anxiously wait for that moment but when she is out she just flies on the light fixture and spends there her time... We put her back in the cage before dinner. So she eats, drinks, walks and sings just when she is inside her cage... but she anxiously waits for the out cage time...


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## Colombina (Jan 22, 2017)

ZMEU.NET said:


> So if you release your pigeon outdoor, does it come back to you like a dog?


I don't release her outdoor.
But yes, sometimes, when I see her running around the house or flying on my head (when she flies on the door of the bathroom I always say her "Aurora, andiamo - Aurora, let's go" and she flies on my head) I think that she is better than a dog 😄. She was rescued when she was a really young baby (see the pic), someone brought her and her brother to my vet, I adopted them from him. She is really friendly and sweet with me but she is also friendly and sociable with my other birds. She is a special pigeon 😊.


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## ZMEU.NET (Mar 9, 2017)

This traumatized feral pigeon landed in my balcony. It was very cold, 0 Celsius degrees. She had a broken after being attacked and abused by more than 4 pigeons. Her back had some bleeding wounds. 
I saw later on my ring camera that she tried to shelter in my balcony for 1 hour.
When i noticed her i tried to catch her but she flew on top of the block. Everywhere she suffered brutal attacks from all pigeons. It looks like they all wanted to kill her. Finally she came back into my balcony and i managed to catch her. 
Her leg looked completely paralyzed,dead or frozen. 
For 1 month no progress at all for the broken leg, i only immobilized it because she was constantly walking. Then i removed the stick from the leg, the leg was very thin, demineralized.
After 2 months she healed very well, the leg became thick again. She can run and stand only on the broken leg. 
So peaceful pigeons are just a myth. Pigeons are very aggressive, they fight for food or territory all the time and can kill each other.


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## Friend John (Jun 10, 2018)

Pigeons, especially feral pigeons, have to be aggressive and scrappy or they wouldn't survive. They have to fight for food or they'd starve. They have to fight for territory or the best and most protected places will be taken by someone else. 

I feed a feral flock and it does bother me to see them fight (though they fight much less now after I found an arrangement that works). I'd like to give them all the food they want, but I've been advised that by doing that I'd be doing them more harm than good.


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## Colombina (Jan 22, 2017)

Poor pigeon, she had a really traumatic experience, I understand why she is really aggressive with other birds. I'm really glad you managed to catch her and care about her.*

In add to what John said, I have a question: is it possible that she had a previous injury or that looked sick when the pigeons attacked her? Pigeons attack a sick/injured pigeon because they instinctively want to protect the flock. The "weakest link" could attract predators and so put the flock in danger.

My pigeons love biscuits, sometimes I give them a small piece of it (something simple so without chocolate or marmalade, etc). You could try to offer it to her, she could appreciate it 😊.


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