# Pigeon Body Language? Bonding/More Questions



## Coocifer (Jun 25, 2017)

Hello again, 

I'm the newer owner of a 1 year old male lahore pigeon named Sinatra. I posted a thread two days after I got him, and I got good advice. I have more questions! I am looking for ALL the information I can possibly get on pigeon body language. I'm trying to get him to bond to me. I want us to have a good relationship before I get him a mate or a friend.

I've had him for just over ten days, and things I would say are progressing pretty well. Even though he was hand raised, he was put back with other birds and has never really been a house pet, but he is getting more comfortable every day and he is learning well.

He's slowly learning his name. So far it's only associated with feeding time, but he's getting the hang of it. He'll eat out of my hands now, but he's still terrified of them. He used to run away at every errant twitch of my fingers, but now it's mostly if my thumbs start moving too much, or I move my hands more than a little bit while he eats he'll back off and come back once he decides I wasn't up to anything.

I'm exclusively feeding him from my hands now to encourage him along the path to bonding with me. His wings are clipped, which is advice I got from other bird owners starting out with a new bird(I do realize now he'd probably have felt more secure with them in tact). When his feathers grow back in, they'll be there to stay. 

So at this point, body language wise:

He paces up and down in front of the cage either when I get home from being gone for a little bit, or when I wake up later in the day. He knows around these times he's going to be let out of the cage, so I guess that's pretty explanitory.

When he gets out of the cage, he'll lift his wings up a bit, though not all the way. He sometimes does this when he gets startled while eating as well if my hand twitches too much, or when I need to pause and lift my arms to stretch because the position he's most secure in eating out of my hands from makes my hands go numb after about 15 minutes....he eats for a very long time). 

He'll also do that stand-on-one-leg stretch.

When he seems comfortable, like when he's about to nap and when he's getting tired, he'll stand on leg and open and close his beak quickly a couple times, a few times in a row. I hope this is a good sign?

If he's really nervous about exploring somewhere, he seems to gather up the guts to be brave by rapidly stomping his feet. When he's exploring somewhere new, he perches, and stomps his feet. 

My partner was over at my house recently and let him out of his cage while I wasn't in the room. He got out of the cage, started exploring for about ten minutes and it wasn't until I came into the room that he started stretching or flapping his wings. 

He also does that thing where he flaps his wings and walks in place in a circle usually a little bit after being let out of the cage.

He generally finds places to perch near me and nap. He also finds corners he likes and does that low-growly coo which I'm assuming is the nesting call. In the mornings he strut-coos around his favourite area in his cage. 

I want to interact with him more. I'll be okay if he never becomes a snuggly pigeon. He's still very wary of me, but I am really hoping that maybe I can get him to that point. 

I would really like to know about pigeon body language. What can I do to posture myself to make him more comfortable? What do I do if he starts flirting with me or anything like that? Until I feel like I'm able to handle getting him a mate once I feel like he's secure here and trusts me completely, I want to do what I can to bridge the companionship gaps as much as I can without actually being a pigeon. I respect he needs that, and I do plan to meet that need in the future once I'm more used to him and he's at ease with me. 

I'm also concerned about picking him up still. I still haven't picked him up at all, or had a need to since the first day I brought him home (I did pick him up twice that night because he was on my bed, and his feet were a bit dirty from being inside the carrier). Sometimes he climbs onto a place where he shouldn't, but his nervousness of me leads him to just fly away when I get too close to him. I am guessing it would be okay, but I'm terrified handling him would make him trust me less, or is it something they're pretty forgiving of once they're more used to their owners? Everything I'm seeing here seems to lean towards them being forgiving of it. 

If I'm being completely honest I'm hoping once he warms up completely he'll turn out to be affectionate and cuddly, but perhaps that isn't his personality, which is okay. It would just be nice!


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## Jass SamOplay (May 29, 2012)

Since his wings are clipped he opens them to take off when comes out of cage but realises he cant use them to their full potential. He may be stretching them too by opening them. Posting a pic might help to see and tell more.
Resting on one feet could be a habit. In china such pigeon is supposed to be lucky. But actually they give rest to their legs one at a time by sitting on one leg.

He is still nervous around your place and will take some more time to get comfortable. Taking him into your lap and scratching around his cere and head might help to bond with him better.


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## Coocifer (Jun 25, 2017)

Jass SamOplay said:


> He is still nervous around your place and will take some more time to get comfortable. Taking him into your lap and scratching around his cere and head might help to bond with him better.


Yeah, I would like to very much. But he's pretty scared of being picked up and pretty stubbornly resists being handled. Even turning the lights off to just pick him up - he'll even bolt in the dark. He's very skiddish, and at this point when he's so scared of my hands holding him and petting him wouldn't work  Maybe later when he's more used to me I can try something like this. 

I can get him to eat out of my hands, and now he'll perch on my ankles to eat if I cross my legs on the floor and keep the food close. He has two different heights of perches close to me that he'll settle onto when he's in the mood - a cat taxi and a kitchen chair. He'll walk under my legs if I'm at my desk. Once he's perched on the back of my chair, and settled down to nap under my desk, not too far from my feet. So I do know for sure he's coming around. He's interested in me, just not used to being so interactive with people.

Like I said, he's just not used to being a house pet yet, but he's learning!

I appreciate you breaking down some of his body language  Some of it I do understand, but clarification and more information is ever helpful.


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