# How to pigeons react to music?



## DeadIrishD (Sep 28, 2005)

How do pigeons react to music? 
like will they freak out by me listening to metal turned up loud?


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## Pidgey (May 20, 2005)

Yep.

They'd rather listen to the rush of cars under an overpass.

Psychologically, studies have been done to explain the old experiment where rock music proved to deter the growth of plants while classical music, conversely, enhanced their growth. The later studies discovered that there are musical sequences that feel "finished" and if you hack the last few notes off, they don't. 

When listened to as a single sequence like "da-da-da-DUM, da-da-da-DUM" (as in Beethoven's 9th? or was it the 5th?) most folks can subjectively determine whether the sequence seems to be complete or whether it's begging for a final note or two, kind of like asking an unfinished question, "so did you and her go to the... ?"

Psychologists have dissected various types of music and somehow determined that the types of music that tend to initiate a physiological stress response in humans and other animals essentially are composed of multiple sequences in which each lacks a "finish." As such, these types of music act as a stimulant in that they evoke a cacophany of emotional agonies.

Lastly, while all that may seem like a string of high-brow BS, it is actually quite correct, if tainted in its delivery by my own personal dislike of Metal. I'm just thinking of the pigeon.

Pidgey


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## DeadIrishD (Sep 28, 2005)

hmm... so I should wear headphones when listening to music?
and also, would music like Jim Croce be alright to listen too with it? 

when you had said about "so did you and her go to the... ?"
the first word that popped into my head was gynacologist for some odd reason.


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## Maggie-NC (Jun 22, 2005)

Thanks to both of you for making me laugh. maggie


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## Pidgey (May 20, 2005)

Precisely the point. Whether you want to finish it with "...ice cream parlor" or "...marriage counselor" or "...pyramid of Khufu," it demands completion. The confusion is specifically designed into that kind of music and it plays into teenage angst quite well. That angst is an expression of the confusion of transition from having one's parents make all the decisions to finding one's own destiny. It is tragic when a person get stuck indefinitely between the two conditions and worse when such a person so stuck harbors blame against everyone except him or herself.

I can't remember Jim Croce well enough to say, but I seem to remember that his was fairly melodic. I will say that my blind pigeon, who loves music, does exhibit unfavorable reactions to various kinds and Metal would definitely get the thumbs-down from her.

Pidgey


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## DeadIrishD (Sep 28, 2005)

Lady Tarheel has to remember Jim Croce shes old enough  
heck I am 18 turning 19 next month and I know who he is.

he's oldies/folk 

Big bad leroy brown
You don't mess around with Jim
Say I love you in a song.


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## Skyeking (Jan 17, 2003)

I put my Bose CD player out in the back porch for my birds to listen to sometimes (cause it is compact so it is easy to move, yet has great sound), I played some Beethoven and other classics. They stayed out and listened for a time and then went inside the coop after 2 hours. They seemed more relaxed and looked towards the porch, they weren't interacting and picking up various things as they normally do. Or they were puzzled & were just distracted and went inside after they had heard enough. LOL


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## DeadIrishD (Sep 28, 2005)

I myself, can't stand classical music, so IMO it'd be a crime making them listen to music they dislike as well.

but I guess I can try it and see if they like it, as Nicki (her and I are seeing eachother, and its 100% like were going out, just w.o the title.) likes it so maybe she can bond with them, while its on, and I can see if they seem to like my music or not. (after thinking, we all have diffrent tastes in music, how do we know that they like it or hate it, without trying.)


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## Maggie-NC (Jun 22, 2005)

Ha! Yes, I am and yes I do. Mine listen to Julio Iglesias. maggie


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## DeadIrishD (Sep 28, 2005)

who is Julio Iglesias? the last name sounds familiar


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## Skyeking (Jan 17, 2003)

You have great taste, Maggie....


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## DeadIrishD (Sep 28, 2005)

If the pigeons actually like this kind of music, I think my mom would love them as she listens to the same kind of music when she is drunk, are pigeons known to flap their wings alot? (my mom hates that, but me and Nicki don't care.)


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## Jiggs (Apr 1, 2005)

Wow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


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## pdpbison (Mar 15, 2005)

I had noticed that my various Pigeons seemed ( to me somehow) to enjoy most of the 78 RPM records I used to play a lot, which date from the 'teens and 'twenties (even though of course 78s were made well into the 'fifties, but after the 'twenties I did not tend to collect them, I felt their ngenue had fallen off...or got a mite thin.) 

This being a variety all tolled, of earlyish Jazz, Old Cowboy Music, Hawian Music, and popular if obscure tunes generally, often very genuine and with one or two artists merely for any given song, rather than bands or orchestral.

Anyway, Most Birds seem to like these...

They HATE Barry Manilow and lots of other semi-ex popular singers, as far as I can tell.

I think they generally like 'Donovan'...

Prolly like Leaonard Cohen...

Oddly, I have been playing the odd round or two of 'Grand Theft Auto' which is the only Video-Game I ever played, which someone gave to me when they were moveing...

And, the young Doves of all things seem to find it interesting and gather around me when I am playing, avidly watching it's progress...while the Pigeons seem indifferent...and show no interest.

So go figure!

Ummm...otherwise, the Pigeons I have seem to like John Coltrain...or other good modern or 'classic' Jazz, but I do not have many music things handy these days...most stuff is in storage now...

My young Duck used to like to watch the film "Winged Migration" and some of the Pigeons used to gather around to watch it too...

It is a very cool film, if you do not have it...you should go onto 'Amazon' and get it...


Phil
Las Vegas


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## Pigeonpal2002 (Jul 27, 2002)

Hi everyone, 

My opinion here in regards to music and pigeons is that they seem to like calm, soothing, melodic music. This keeps in tune with their personalities as a whole. 

I keep a radio in my pigeons' room going 24/7 on a soft "rock" easy listening channel and they don't mind it. It's on fairly low but definitely audible to the birds and they don't really pay much mind to it nowadays. I find that it's beneficial for background noise mostly to the birds and to make them feel that their "evironment" is safe.


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## Buddy (Sep 7, 2005)

Hi everyone,

here is a comprimise, do you guys get the artist Katie Melua? her songs are really great, easy listening and beautiful voice, her albums are: Call Off The Search & Piece By Piece, I think even a Heavy Metal person will like her, and your pigeons!  

Buddy


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## DeadIrishD (Sep 28, 2005)

nah not my type of music, although I do like that iglasiouce (sp?) guys music


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## Pigeonpal2002 (Jul 27, 2002)

Hi DeadirishD, 

Just to let you know, since you seemed to be familiar with the last name "Iglesias"......Enrique is Julio's son and Enrique is probably the guy you know the music of


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## Victor (Dec 18, 2004)

*Julio and Enrique*



DeadIrishD said:


> who is Julio Iglesias? the last name sounds familiar


Julio Iglesias is a singer-song writer of love songs, done many times in English , Spanish and Italian as well. Some of his best ones are: "No si vive Cosi "(Can't live like this) and "Abrace me"( wrap your arms around me).

His son, Enrique Iglesias ,probabaly why the name is so familiar , made a top 10 hit song about a year or so ago titled,"_*Let me be your hero*_". Some of the words to the song you may recognize:
"Would you dance if I asked you to dance
Would you run and never looked back,
Would you cry if you saw me crying,
Would you save my soul tonight..."

The Iglesia men both are recognized for romance songs, and probably why so popular with the girls especially.

Man can not live on METALLICA alone!


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## DeadIrishD (Sep 28, 2005)

yes because one day, he will have no choice but to listen to their newer stuff, as he gets sick of their older stuff, and realise that Metallica has turned out to be a bunch of corprate sell outs.

but that is why there is Ozzy, and Black Label Society, Pantera and many more great artists/bands


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## ernie (May 3, 2003)

*I must have the oddest pigeons....*

They like listening to Pink Floyd and Toby Keith, but hate the soothing nature sound CD. 
A special attraction seems to be when my husband plays jazz on his harmonica. I think that's cause they don't quite know what to make out of that sound, cause I find all the 'house pigeons' in front of his office door with their heads cocked and a questioning look on their faces.  

(of course we get the same reaction out of the neighbors when he puts it through the amplifier  )


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## DeadIrishD (Sep 28, 2005)

Sweeet!!! I love country music as well.
so they may end up like listening to me play the keys?


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## bevslape (Jul 22, 2005)

vdog505 said:


> Julio Iglesias is a singer-song writer of love songs, done many times in English , Spanish and Italian as well. Some of his best ones are: "No si vive Cosi "(Can't live like this) and "Abrace me"( wrap your arms around me).
> 
> His son, Enrique Iglesias ,probabaly why the name is so familiar , made a top 10 hit song about a year or so ago titled,"_*Let me be your hero*_". Some of the words to the song you may recognize:
> "Would you dance if I asked you to dance
> ...



Actually I think Julio is best known for a song he sang with Willie Nelson. 
It's called For All The Girls Iv'e Loved Before.


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## Buddy (Sep 7, 2005)

Well, my Buddy does like music I play, maybe she thinks Katie Melua sounds as good as her  Do you like Sharon Osbourne DeadirishD? maybe you get the program called the X factor? it's a lot like American Idol, only the judges are Sharon Osbourne, Simon Cowell and Louis Walsh


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## Pigeonpal2002 (Jul 27, 2002)

Hi everyone again

I think....pigeons don't really "like/dislike" music as much as they learn to adapt to it. 

I feel pigeons like the soothing sounds in music or at least tolerate that I would assume that any sounds/music or noises that are irritating to humans, can also cause stress in the pigeons in the least.

Music isn't so much of an issue here really, it's more of a human characteristic we feel a need to instill in the birds  Again, regarding my own experience with the pigeons and music, they generally don't pay any attention to it anymore.

Certain sounds, and instruments however I'm sure can cause undue stress in the birds simply because those sounds can replicate "danger" sounds to the birds in nature...such as heavy drums being like shots of a gun going off. Certain sounds are ingrained in birds instinctually that they fear.


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## Victor (Dec 18, 2004)

DeadIrishD said:


> but that is why there is Ozzy, and Black Label Society, Pantera and many more great artists/bands



Just be sure you keep the volume down or use your headsets. "The Best of Pantera ...2003 hits" OR "Bark at the Moon" might be a bit stressful for birds.


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## Victor (Dec 18, 2004)

*Playing the piano might be dangerous...*



DeadIrishD said:


> Sweeet!!! I love country music as well.
> so they may end up like listening to me play the keys?


*To You*

I tried that last Winter when I was playing Christmas tunes at the piano, he flew to my shoulder and started nipping at my ear...ok I can take a hint.


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## DeadIrishD (Sep 28, 2005)

Yes, but than again you may not be too good at the keys either. LOL


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## Reti (Jul 20, 2003)

I noticed in my birds, they will be quiet when I put on piano music.
With rock music they are their normal noisy selves, I think they just ignore it.

Reti


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## DeadIrishD (Sep 28, 2005)

so by playing metal, it'll cause them to be confortable with being itself? instead of the trance like state, that people are telling me about, when theres listen to classical?  

perhaps they may actually like metal, and in reality try so hard to tune out classical that they just ignore everything around them.

has actually scientific research been put into this?

-Me after being on pain meds for my back, and lack of sleep.


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## Victor (Dec 18, 2004)

*More on music*

There have been studies done on animals, plants and humans as well .On humans it has been been proven that certain music will stimulate the brain cells either negatively or in a positive way. 

Years ago I used to DJ a top 40 radio station in El Paso, and after being raised on Spanish and Country music, it was quite a change for me, but I adapted nicely. I learned to appreciate it and to this day I listen to just about everything,depending on my mood or what I am doing, whether at the office or just messing around.

I raised 4 kids, all now grown, and all of them have different music preferences.My son, who is 30, still listens ro Crue,Iron Maiden and groups similar to that style.I recall last year he made the comment that DeadIrishD did about Metallica doing a "corporate sell out".Oddly enough, he likes Shania Twain who is a Country singer.

My other two are fairly alike, Alternative,R&B,Blues and smome metal like Pantera.

My youngest one who is 19 and is a Marine in Iraq, (the good child) loves classical, but is much like me, into everything.Both of us have musical notes tattoos on our arms depicting our love for music. 

Oh my, here I am rambling on and on...I think I got side tracked.

Getting back to music and moods, when we first took Tooter, our injured pigeon in, I would put a portable stereo on for a couple of hours on the Classical station and did notice that it seemed to quiet him down and he seemed more relaxed, compared to just having the TV on. Our squirrel that we took in from a car injury is calmer when soft music is on.It does wonders on the little kid as well...really it does!


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## Lin Hansen (Jan 9, 2004)

Victor, I enjoyed reading your "rambling." LOL Just goes to show how everyone has different tastes in the music that they find enjoyable.

DeadIrishD - I looked for some research on the effect of music on pigeons, but really didn't come up with anything conclusive. The best I found was an article about enriching the environment for animals that are kept in research labs. While I don't like the idea of animals being used for research, I was happy to see that their caretakers do care about providing for their needs beyond just the "physical" such as food, water, etc.
In the article, it is mentioned that for birds, *background music can be beneficial.*
I know you are a fan of metal, so that is probably the kind of music you would think of first. But, I would have to think that especially in the stressful environment of a research lab, that the music they would provide would be of the soothing variety...classical or maybe easy listening.

You mentioned Jim Croce in one of your earlier posts. I know his music and think it would probably be fine for your bird. "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown" is kind of upbeat, but Croce had many hits that could be considered soft folk rock, such as "Time in a Bottle," "Operator," etc.

This has been a very interesting thread to follow. Here is the link about enriching the environment for animals in labs:

http://www.nal.usda.gov/awic/pubs/enrich/birds.htm

Linda


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## mr squeaks (Apr 14, 2005)

*You sure started something DeadIrishD...*

Very interesting thread. I agree with those who feel, keep the music DOWN! Loud music, especially using earphones (with PEOPLE  ), have been shown to cause hearing problems. If loud music can do this to people, why not our pigeons? Or, at least some type of stress related problem? 

Mr Squeaks seems to like my singing to him - at least he LOOKS like he's paying attention! LOL For those who like to sing, I'm sure you have sung to your birds too. How did they react?


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## DeadIrishD (Sep 28, 2005)

I love to sing, but luckily for the birds, I would not put them through the stress.


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## Victor (Dec 18, 2004)

mr squeaks said:


> Mr Squeaks seems to like my singing to him - at least he LOOKS like he's paying attention! LOL For those who like to sing, I'm sure you have sung to your birds too. How did they react?




Funny Mr.Squeaks  .I haven't sung to mine lately, but in the early months of having Tooter, he was not too keen on bathing in the sink, so I would sing quiet lullyby songs that I sing to my youngest grandson, and he reacted very well. I remember after singing a few verses, he started tilting his head, and he would look at me, look at the water in the sink, and continue this for a couple of minutes, all the while, I am singing to him, he started walking down my arm, towards the sink of water. I had my hand palm out in the water, and down he went. I continued singing while he was in the sink, walking, splashing and shaking. As soon as I stopped, he flew out. 

Now, a year and a half later, I cant keep him off my hose end when I am cleaning his living quarters or just watering my plants. No singing required.


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## Victor (Dec 18, 2004)

DeadIrishD said:


> I love to sing, but luckily for the birds, I would not put them through the stress.


Dan everyone can sing. Try this,nice and softly, make your mouth move and sound out the syllables...nice and soft now...

"Hush little pigie,dont you cry, Danny gonna buy you some pigeon seed, and if that store dont have no seed, Danny gonna go to another store!"


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## DeadIrishD (Sep 28, 2005)

nah, if that store didnt have any pigeon seed I'd be ripped 
discrimination to pigeons everywhere


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## Jiggs (Apr 1, 2005)

Yes - an interesting thread. I would not think it is the music but the sound pressure i.e. volume that would count


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## Victor (Dec 18, 2004)

*Pigeon awake at 1:45 AM...*

Last night I got home around 1:45 in the morning, and grabbed a glass of milk, as I usually always do, and unwind for a while on Pigeon~Talk for a while. 

Well, last night my wife had the maintenence scan on so I opted not to close it, and besides, I did work later than I usually do,so was a bit exhausted. I sat down just drinking my milk and reflecting on the day as I watched the scan numbers rotate, and I heard a tinkling sound coming from the back spare bedroom where Tooter sleeps at night. He has a 4 tier hanging bell that he was beating up and trying to rip off the hook. I put the stereo we have in the kitchen ,which is adjacent to his bedroom on a soothing classical station, and within 2 minutes the bell ringing stopped. We both went to sleep.


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## NumberNine (Jul 19, 2005)

My birds react positively to Enya. In case you don't know who Enya is...

http://www2.netdoor.com/~jallison/enya/content/albums/index.htm


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## Pigeonpal2002 (Jul 27, 2002)

Hi Numbernine, 

Yes, I can definitely see why your pigeons react positively to Enya....I can't imagine any human not reacting positively to her music It's so mellow, peaceful and melodical with haunting yet soft soothing sounds and harmonics

A definite "thumbs up" to your choice here and what pigeons would probably perceive as "relaxing, easy listening"


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## Buddy (Sep 7, 2005)

Another artist that has a really nice voice and very easy listening is Katie Melua, heres her website, click on media then on jukebox, select one of her albums and click on one of her songs. www.katiemelua.com

Buddy


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## minimonkey (Apr 7, 2005)

When I first took in our little babies, I played classical for them. It did seem to soothe them and calm them down -- they were very agitated from being napped from the nest (for those who don't know, the building manager was destroying nests and killing the babies )

Now, I must say, they *do* seem to have taken well to Leonard Cohen. I put on the Cohen, the guys start cooo ooo oooh-ing  (the loving, oooh, oooh coos.). 

They seem pretty indifferent to most everything else we play, including my piano playing and the TV. They know our voices, though -- if we've been watching TV and then start talking ourselves, they coo as well.


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