# Pigeon bonded to dove?



## elliepaterson (Sep 24, 2014)

I am brand new to Pigeon-Talk, so here's my dilemma:

I am a new bird keeper and I recently brought home a white dove and then a rock pigeon from a wildlife rehab center where they had been turned in by members of the public. The white dove presented with a heavy load of parasites and an old injury to her head that causes her eyelids to be permanently deformed, and she is a poor flyer. The pigeon was a juvenile that I took to homecare until flighted. They sleep inside in adjoining parts of one large cage, and I put the dove outside for the day in a duplicate cage, and let the pigeon fly free.

The pigeon has a crush on both me and the dove and will not leave. The dove appears mildly interested in flying, dislikes the pigeon, and does not much like me (although she'll perch on me), and is frustrated in her cage when she sees the pigeon flying around. I am worried about releasing the dove because I am not sure she'd fare well and might be harassed by the pigeon.

I am thinking that I need to adopt a female pigeon and a male white dove in order to pair the birds properly.

The other option is to build a much larger enclosure for the dove, but the pigeon would still be pining for her.

I'd like to consider fostering or adopting more birds, but need to resolve my current arrangement. If anyone has any thoughts or pointers, I'd really appreciate it!


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## lg5555 (Aug 2, 2013)

*dove*

Is the white one a white ringneck or a white pigeon?


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## elliepaterson (Sep 24, 2014)

It's definitely a dove: half the size of the pigeon, dove shape, dove beak, and dove coo. Thanks!


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## Lyna (Sep 16, 2014)

I think they both love you. I may have a very similar situation. My fledgling wild dove is too young to be released and wouldn't survive. Especially now that all the mourning doves took off the other day to migrate south. I had two sibling rock dove pigeons, only 2 1/2 mos old now but one of them did not come home yesterday. Similiar behavior now between my two... i'm curious here.


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