# Small, white, four-month old, male pigeon for adoption in NYC



## nycpigeonlady (Jan 22, 2012)

We are looking for a home for a small (270 gms), white, healthy, four-month old, male pigeon. Pillin is the oops baby of our indoor pet pigeons - a feral female and a Syrian Turbiteen male, after whom Pillin takes size-wise. He looks more like a dove than a typical pigeon, and has lived his life indoors. He is now sexually mature and really eager for a mate. The ideal home can be inside or an outdoor loft, but should include a companion bird. 

Willing to travel or fly Pillin at our own expense to the right home.


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

Hi guys. If he is as cute as their other baby, then he must be adorable. Can you post a pic for others to see? If he was a female, I'd snatch him up, but sadly I have too many males and can't add yet another one to my flock. We just love his sister. For others info, we adopted his sister, not sibling, but sister. This bird comes from a very good home and very good looking parents.We just love Maluk, who has pretty much taken over the loft.


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## nycpigeonlady (Jan 22, 2012)

Thanks for your nice words, Jay! Our little Maluk is so fortunate to have found a home like yours, where she lives with a handsome boyfriend in a lace-curtained loft!!! If Pillin can find someone to care for him half as well, he'll be one lucky guy indeed. He is very cute and looks just like his sister.

Thanks for alerting me to the missing picture. I did include one in the post, and can see it when I go to the thread from the computer I posted it from, so wasn't sure what you meant, bu now that I try to do the same from my phone and another computer, I can see that it's not showing up. I re-attached it now, so I hope it works this time.


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

Hi. I'm sorry......no pic. Wonder why? He must be adorable if he looks like Maluk. You can always email it to me and I can try to post it.


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## PhelanVelvel (Jun 12, 2017)

I don't suppose he could be the companion to a white ringneck dove? I'm desperate to help my female out, because her behaviour is just so sad. She tries to get to my budgies over and over again, and the budgies don't return the affectionate feeling. I adopted her, which is why she is single. I posted pictures of her here:

http://www.pigeons.biz/forums/f24/i-adopted-a-dove-100730.html#post1032386

I'm really not having an easy time finding a ringneck dove. They seem to not be popular in New Jersey. I don't see any on Craigslist and no one has reached out to me about being a breeder.

Since Kojak (my dove) is trying to woo the budgies, I think she'd be fine with a pigeon, but I know they're not technically the same species.


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

You don't usually put pigeons and doves together because usually the pigeons can hurt the doves who are smaller and pigeons have stronger personalities. But if he is as small as Maluk, than he is like the size of a roller. Still they don't normally put them together.


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## PhelanVelvel (Jun 12, 2017)

Jay3 said:


> You don't usually put pigeons and doves together because usually the pigeons can hurt the doves who are smaller and pigeons have stronger personalities. But if he is as small as Maluk, than he is like the size of a roller. Still they don't normally put them together.


All right, I understand. I just figured I'd ask because I feel awful. I wanted to make her life better by adopting her, but for the moment it feels way worse. Now instead of being totally alone, she knows what she doesn't have and is freaking out trying to get it. When she was upstairs for a brief time before we put her in with the other birds, she was doing pretty well. I was working with her on training. Now that she can see the budgies, she shuns my treats or any interactions with me in favour of pathetically bowing and cooing at these little birds who can't do anything for her. (I was assured by the previous owner she is female, so I'm assuming she does this because she has been alone for so long.) I can't move her back upstairs for a couple reasons, and anyway she shouldn't be kept in forced isolation. I just remembered I know someone who runs a rescue and will be asking them if they have any doves.


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

Phelan, you haven't had her all that long. Another dove should come along eventually.
You could get another female to keep her company. Might be easier to find than just looking for a male. Don't you take her out of the cage now? Where are you located?


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## nycpigeonlady (Jan 22, 2012)

Hi Phelan,

I really feel your pain. My bird is really desperate for a mate too, but even though Pillin is very small, but he is still 90 gms heavier than an average ringneck male, (they are listed as 180 gms.). I have heard of pigeon - dove pairs working out well, but those are usually a female pigeon with a male dove, so I don’t really know. If I were you, I’d check out the Wild Bird Fund in NYC to see if they have any doves for you. 

I have never kept doves and don’t know if this is even a reasonable idea - but I’m sure others with experience will chime in – since Pillin has a very laid back personality, if you can constantly watch over them while they interact, maybe you can try Pillin out to see if they get along. If not, I will of course take him back.


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## PhelanVelvel (Jun 12, 2017)

Jay3 said:


> Phelan, you haven't had her all that long. Another dove should come along eventually.
> You could get another female to keep her company. Might be easier to find than just looking for a male. Don't you take her out of the cage now? Where are you located?


I actually didn't realise that having two females would be as good as having a male and a female (in the birds' eyes), but that is just fine with me. I do take her out of her cage, the problem is that she can't be out in the bird room or she just goes mental and chases the budgies nonstop. I had her upstairs with me yesterday to hang out, where she can't see the budgies or figure out how to get to them, and she was actually acting pretty normal, pecking around on the floor for food and whatnot. I can bring her upstairs to give her a break from the madness, but once she goes back in her cage she goes at it anew. I spoke to someone I know who runs a bird rescue, and he said he would do a pelvic exam and give me a bird of the same sex. They're a rescue, so they don't want anyone breeding, which I understand.



nycpigeonlady said:


> Hi Phelan,
> 
> I really feel your pain. My bird is really desperate for a mate too, but even though Pillin is very small, but he is still 90 gms heavier than an average ringneck male, (they are listed as 180 gms.). I have heard of pigeon - dove pairs working out well, but those are usually a female pigeon with a male dove, so I don’t really know. If I were you, I’d check out the Wild Bird Fund in NYC to see if they have any doves for you.
> 
> I have never kept doves and don’t know if this is even a reasonable idea - but I’m sure others with experience will chime in – since Pillin has a very laid back personality, if you can constantly watch over them while they interact, maybe you can try Pillin out to see if they get along. If not, I will of course take him back.


It's really up to you. I don't think Kojak (my bird) would do anything to Pillin, because when she goes after the budgies the most she does is bows and coos at them, and they're much smaller than she is. In fact, the budgies have kind of snapped at her before to get her away from them, which is why I started leaving her in her cage when the budgies come out; I don't want them hurting her. It would make me very happy to help Pillin and my bird all at once, and I would supervise them, of course, but it's up to you as to whether you'd like to try. Since he's a smaller pigeon, laidback, and white (Kojak seems to favour the all white budgie), I wouldn't be opposed to it. My hope is that once there are two of them they'll just be happy to be around each other so I can have them out of their cage and enjoy interacting with them, teaching them to fly to my hand, and so on. I had started doing it with Kojak, but once she figured out there were budgies it was game over.

Like I said, up to you. If you'd rather wait it out for Pillin I completely understand and I can get a ringneck dove from the rescue, but it would be kind of nice to help you and Pillin out as well.


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## nycpigeonlady (Jan 22, 2012)

I’m not at all worried about Pillin, since he’s the male and bigger bird here, my concern was solely for Kojak. You seem like a really caring person, and I’d be most happy to re-home Pillin with you, I just want to make sure that your bird will not get hurt because of it. The two of them will need to be supervised at all times until you can be sure there’s no danger to the dove. Males can be aggressive as normal part of mating behavior, and many try to bully the hen into going back to the nest, especially if there are other male birds around that they see as competition. 

By the way, the two would be able to breed, so if you don’t want babies (who would be sterile, I think), you’d have to replace the eggs with fakes. 

Where in NJ are you? Feel free to private message me.


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

You need to remember that the dove is about 10 years old, and the pigeon is still a youngun' She may not be around for a lot longer, and he will then be alone.


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## PhelanVelvel (Jun 12, 2017)

Jay3 said:


> You need to remember that the dove is about 10 years old, and the pigeon is still a youngun' She may not be around for a lot longer, and he will then be alone.


Hey, I have Pillin in my care now. I had thought of that as well, but rest assured that I wouldn't let him be alone. I understand it would be sad for him to lose his companion, but I was thinking that she still had quite a few more years, even being ten, as I read that doves can live well into their teens or possibly even twenties. At that rate, I thought that the length of time they'd be together would be okay. If he did pair off with a bird his age, it's always possible they would live a very long time together and one would pass sooner than the other, meaning another bird would need to be gotten anyway. I thought about it and it seemed to me that no matter what I did, there will be a loss of a companion, so maybe it would be better to just try and hook these two lonely birds up.

He's doing well. We're working with him on eating from our hands and stepping up. We're having the birds take turns being out and about. One stays in the cage and the other is free in the bird room, allowing them to habituate to one another without any issues. I understand the dangers of throwing them in a cage together, so the plan is to allow them to bond over time.


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## cwebster (Dec 11, 2010)

Glad to hear things are working out so far.


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

Thank you for the update. Hope you will let us know how things go. He is a cute little thing.


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## nycpigeonlady (Jan 22, 2012)

You guys are doing really well with Pillin! I’m sure he appreciates all the attention you are giving him. We tried to keep him at arm’s length so that he wouldn’t get too attached to people and have a hard time adjusting to a bird mate later on, which was the case with Maluk - his sister. Still, when I’d offer him my hand to step up, he would immediately start courting and mounting it. That’s why I never taught him to fly to me "on command", or much of anything really.

Here are the last pictures I took of him. He absolutely loves to bathe at least twice a week, plus we wanted him to be clean and handsome for his new home!


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

He is just as adorable as Maluk. Would have loved him if I could have.


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