# Do females act like males?



## Starchild (Jan 16, 2020)

Hello. Newbie to the forum but not to pigeons. I have a king pigeon mix I hatched in my incubator and raised by hand. He has never been around another pigeon. As a baby, I determined he was male by vent and other indicators I’ve used successfully in the past. As he matured, he got all the male looks. Large body, bigger head etc. and behavior wise he was all male. Strutting, circling, cooing, bowing and rushing towards me with tail fanned downward. Then, about a couple of months ago he started acting more girly. Cooing softly to me and the flattening to the ground with spread wings when I’d come over. Classic female wanting to mate behavior. I’d scratch him on the back and under the wings-the sexy stuff (to a pigeon anyway lol) and then he’d get up and start strutting and cooing and acting all male again. He recently picked a spot he wanted to nest in and would sit there and coo softly and bow to the spot for me to come over and if I put my hand next to him he’d nibble gently and be all calm. Again, male behavior. I read the some males will occasionally exhibit female behaviors to I just put it off to that. Then this evening he was sitting on the floor (I should probably state he has free range of an entire room) and when I came in and he flew up to his nighttime roosting spot, there was an egg on the floor!!! Since males can act like females, do females ever look and act like males? I can’t find any info on that.


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## Ladygrey (Dec 10, 2016)

Yes, hens will mount their male mate. 

Sexing pigeons by vent doesn’t work. But the egg tells all.


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