# Why isn't there a dedicated forum to Sexual & Reproductive Behavior?



## Bustergates (May 1, 2007)

Why isn't there a forum dedicated just to Sexual & Reproductive Behavior?

And sub-forums for "monogamy", "multiple mates", "ruffled neck feathers", "courting behavior", "contraceptive food" ... and anything else that's known to predicts accurate Q&A about sex and reproductive behavior for birds?

Separate forums dedicated to "Sex and Reproduction" would save a lot of unnecessary questions, searching and confusion (at least for me).

If my complaint here does not precipitate the forums and formatting suggested, here are my perpetual dumb questions:

Situation: I had a stable pair of feral pigeons on my balcony for more than a year. Male disappeared and after a lot of suitors, another one started hanging around and now there's a third. What are the odds that third one is male or female? Only the original female stays as a resident bird, the other two are transient. 

The resident female lays eggs in a long cardboard box that I cannot see into and now rendezvous there with the other two birds of uncertain gender, and when they scatter, she now emerges with a conspicuous exposed and ruffled set neck feathers. What does this mean? Is this their version of rough sex or what? 

One other thing, whether they're doves or pigeons I cannot be sure. From the looks, I'd say Pigeons but they could be doves but they don't make that conspicuous sound of coo-coo-coo when they take off and land like the doves I used to have. 

Any litmus test for doves versus pigeons?

How different is the sexual behavior between pigeons and doves? Can you compare and contrast?

Is there safe contraceptive food for pigeons?

To snatch, parboil and return eggs, is sooner always better?

Thank you.

PS: See, if this was already posted and answered under an FAQ, we wouldn't have to reinvent the Q&A wheel.


----------



## spirit wings (Mar 29, 2008)

this is a flock of feral pigeons













this is a morning dove, there are differing kinds, depends on where you live









why would you want to interfere with their breeding?


----------



## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

Bustergates said:


> Why isn't there a forum dedicated just to Sexual & Reproductive Behavior?
> 
> And sub-forums for "monogamy", "multiple mates", "ruffled neck feathers", "courting behavior", "contraceptive food" ... and anything else that's known to predicts accurate Q&A about sex and reproductive behavior for birds?
> 
> ...


Since they're nesting on a balcony, I expect they're pigeons. Pigeons and Doves are mainly the same when it come to courting and reproducing. Dove babies hatch a bit sooner than pigeons babies and they grow up a bit faster.
It's possible that the female is molting, but hard to tell without pictures. Pigeons don't normally have "rough" sex.  It doesn't last long enough to be rough. A male can be a bit rough with a female, but I believe that mainly happens in a loft situation where the female can't get away. They aren't going to stand around and let some bully male just beat up on them.
There are no controceptive foods. Boiling the eggs is one way to keep them from hatching, but that needs to be done within 24 hours after the eggs are laid. After that, there's a baby growing inside the egg. 
I don't know why you would want to do that though? 
As far as info on mating habits..........you could do a search on the WWW and get tons of info pretty easily. 
IMO, we've got tons of what we call "stickies" here and people STILL come and ask the same questions. We don't mind that.....that's what we're here for. If someone is on line to answer then they do.....if not, the new member is pointed to the stickies to read the info. Maybe YOU are one of the exceptions and would actually read the info if it was there, but trust me, most don't. If they did, we wouldn't have the members and posts that we have on a daily basis. Again, not complaining. We all love interacting with and answering questions for new members. At least I do.......
And the two new birds........they could be a mate and an offspring....or two offspring.....or maybe two males after this one female and sooner or later, one will win and the other will be sent on his way.


----------



## Bustergates (May 1, 2007)

spirit wings said:


> this is a flock of feral pigeons
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Thanks for pixs of pigeons & doves, that helps, looks like mine are pigeons.

I don't WANT to interfere with breeding but landlord has been threatening to clear balcony if I don't, and the mess does drop to apts down below. Me and my balcony hosts about three broods per year.

Thanks.


----------



## John_D (Jan 24, 2002)

Technically, it is likely we could have forums set up for just about every aspect of pigeons, but there should be some reasonable limit. Fact is, even with the forums we do have, people still manage to post in the wrong one. 

Now the software allows 'tags' so that keywords can be used to group particular subjects together, it should be less and less necessary to keep adding new forums.

John


----------



## Bustergates (May 1, 2007)

*Sex & reproductive behavior*



John_D said:


> Technically, it is likely we could have forums set up for just about every aspect of pigeons, but there should be some reasonable limit. Fact is, even with the forums we do have, people still manage to post in the wrong one.
> 
> Now the software allows 'tags' so that keywords can be used to group particular subjects together, it should be less and less necessary to keep adding new forums.
> 
> John


Thanks, I'll try searching on key words next time. But I still think sex and reproduction is a big enough forum not to be excluded. In fact, I'd guess most of your traffic may be motivated by sex and reproductive questions but since nothing's listed, they don't respond or probe further.


----------



## philodice (Sep 30, 2007)

It actually sounds like a good idea. I mean, most of that just gets asked in general, pet, and show bird forums as seperate topics. Could be a time saver.


----------

