# Is my pet pigeon's behavior normal, or could he actually be feral?



## tooney-pigeon (Jun 13, 2020)

Back with another question on my newly-acquired indoor pet pigeon:

I adopted a white pigeon just about two weeks ago. He's not a king - looks like a release dove. I'm in the U.S., and adopted him from animal services in Maryland. (Animal services usually picks up animals who are homeless, abandoned, or abused... so they're not avian experts.)

Because he was picked up as a "stray" and I don't have history on him, I've been wondering: how do I know if this pigeon wasn't living happily in the wild? If he had a band or was injured that makes sense, but as far as I know this bird was content and healthy when he was picked up... except for a case of avian lice. He has green on his tail feathers... do people with aviaries mark their birds to keep track of them?

Currently, I'm keeping him in a large cage, and he has about 6-10 hours of free-fly time in a room. He likes to fly in a loop - from the top of a shelf near the ceiling, to the window, and back. Repeatedly. He has been doing this now for hours. He was flying into the window, so I had to pull the shades down to prevent him from crashing.

This bird has no interest in toys, paces *nonstop* while in his cage, and is flying circles repeatedly. Is this normal behavior? I'm starting to worry this bird was happily living outdoors and someone accidentally scooped him up because they didn't know better. I hope I am overreacting and he'll adapt soon.


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## cwebster (Dec 11, 2010)

Our rescued feral adapted well to living indoors in a cage. We were her flock and gave her a lot of attention, hours per day. Sounds like your bird is adapting. At some point, you may want to adopt a female pigeon. Thank you for rescuing him.


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## Marina B (May 5, 2011)

Did you post on a FB group as well? I saw the video. Obviously this pigeon was not born free, he did spend time in an aviary before escaping or being released. One does not know how long he spend time outside on the street. 

I think it is cruel to keep a bird like that indoors. Maybe it's not the lack of space that is a problem, but being indoors the whole time. Any chance of building him an outside aviary and adopting a mate for him? They are social birds, and to keep a single pigeon will be a very lonely life for him.

Someone once brought me a racing pigeon with an injured wing. He spend months out there on the street (I tracked down the owner and he gave me the date the poor thing was released). He did not want him back so I kept him. He adapted well in my aviary (very large) and not once tried to get out, even after starting to fly again. He was amongst other pigeons and outdoors. So maybe that will make a difference.


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## tooney-pigeon (Jun 13, 2020)

I did post on the FB group too (always looking for as many opinions as possible...). Glad you saw the video. 

I did some more research after someone suggested he was a racing pigeon. I think that's probably right... there was a history of racing in the area, and there are quite a few pigeon fanciers nearby where he was picked up.

It is incredibly sad to me that he's indoors when he clearly wants to be outside, or with friends. In the future I think he will need a pigeon mate, but I'd like to wait until we're comfortable and know what we're doing (I have a lot of pigeon learning to do). Want to make sure any bird we rescue is properly taken care of.

Right now we unfortunately can't build an outdoor aviary; we're renting a townhome. I'll give it some time and see how he adjusts. 

Thanks again - it's reassuring to have advice while I'm figuring this out.


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## Marina B (May 5, 2011)

You can put down a mirror for him and see how he reacts to that. Might keep him busy and take his mind off trying to get out the whole time.


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## tooney-pigeon (Jun 13, 2020)

The mirror! Wow. Took him a few hours to notice it, but he has been sitting in front of it peacefully for an hour or two now.


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## Marina B (May 5, 2011)

Oh that's great. He is craving the company of another pigeon.


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