This is a great informational video. I see this misconception that "wrestling/nibbling =aggression" a lot with novice pigeon keepers. Pigeons are prey animals, they will always try to flee if they feel threatened and they don't hate you if they tousle with your hand. Thank you for sharing this!
as someone who got wingslapped on my head numerous times I can confirm this. I see enough pigeons with aggressive behaviour that is basically RUH'ing at me (guttural, not like this in the video) and flying away when I come to close. And that aggressive behaviour is actually only a defense mechanism to warn you not to come to close. And that's just the behaviour towards other species that might be able to harm them.
I feel like this is the case with a lot of animals - TONS of animals have "play biting", like, probably more than not realistically.. Cats, dogs, heck I think even rats do this sort of thing. Animals do *NOT* have hands, so mouths are just like.. yeah.
@@maxwell_edison It's true. My cat would often nibble my hand and I used to get real pissed at her and rip my hand away, which she'd hiss about, and bop her on the head. I kept wondering why SHE was mad at ME. Well, turns out that's just little affectionate nips, after research. So now I basically ignore it as best I can and let her do it if she wants to.
"you're literally a giant, so he has to try very hard to impress you" something about the idea of this pigeon just thinking he has a wife that's probably like, 50x his own body mass and everything's totally fine and normal with that is hilarious, and also very cute
Whats even funnier is when a pigeon bonds to a human, even if they go on to bond with another pigeon in the future they still might try to woo a person. They really like us thanks to their domestication
I know someone else said it, but the thought that this pigeon is trying to woo and impress someone who's foot alone is probably as big as he is and weighs just as much is absurdly adorable. I mean he probably weighs what, MAYBE 1lb? 2lbs at most? The average person is easily almost 100x his size is mass, and he's trying so hard to impress you! That is such a precious birb!
I've recently rescued a male pigeon, and I was actually wondering why he had been doing that, I wasn't sure if it was normal but it warms my heart he's trying to "impress me" 😭❤ Normally after he does it my bf and i tell him he's "a good boy"
My female pigeon does this too, all the time. I love it. It's adorable. Unfortunately, I cannot cuddle or pet her much, as everytime we have a proper petting session, she lays an egg or two. And she's a bit older now, so it's straining on her to lay multiple eggs.
You could try limiting the petting to the neck and head and slightly cutting back on the sunlight she sees to mimic the sunlight hours of the winter months. Thats what you do for parrots at least. That is a huge reason why I've always stuck with male birds myself
Very true. I can tell actual pigeon sass when I see it (usually would occur when I'm handfed them; some of males would fight for the food, and when I put my fingers near them to deter the aggressive ones, they'll turn on me. More humourous than bothersome though). :)
it really just comes down to reading their body language, like the twitchy wing for example is one common thing people mistake because it can mean 1 of 2 things 1) its scared of you or 2) its just happy, and its a happy wing twitch, pretty easy to tell if its a happy wing twitch cause theyll do there little dance that yours does, starting nesting behavior after the bird knows youre impressed
the totality of expression/body language/speech&sound/situational context can tell you more dependably what the animal is feeling. makes sense that if a bird is nibbling at you and dancing around without harming you that it is probably playing or something. one of my dogs “bites” my forearms or hands very very gently when he gets super excited. if he ever chomps too much then i just pretend to whimper or cry and he immediately stops and tries to kiss me 😂😂❤❤ i love animals.
I dont have a pet pigeon but Ive always loved them and this has DELIGHTED me. he just wants to impress his giant spouce, dangit. also, the lil wing flaps are adorableeee
This makes perfect sense to me. I'm a happy nested man and my wife and I make little jabs at each other. A casual observer would think we're annoyed, but it's one of the layers of our intimacy and I love it.
Aww he sounds so happy! Don't know why I was recommended this but obviously YT was listening yesterday, I was having lunch outdoors with my son and the wild white pigeons were eating from my hands ❤ I said I wanted to get pigeons at our house! Your boy is beautiful! 🐦 ❤
I’m very glad this video was recommended to me one day before Zfrank posted his video on pigeon and male pigeon behavior. I felt like I already had insight into what they would talk about.
The key to identify true aggressive behavior is understanding that animals are fight or flight, they will try to do as much damage possible and won't stop at all.
Should I get a male or a female? I’ve been thinking about getting a pet pigeon for a while but I haven’t really found anything that gives me a very clear answer
❤❤❤ he is beautiful , he,s not aggressive. Is his way to call for nest to cares u , they wonderful birds , I grow up since I been a child , will love theme all my life. , this one is absolutely beautiful ❤❤❤
I want a pet pigeon so bad, but I have a German Wirehaired Pointer dog and his prey drive especially towards birds is way too high... it would be torture to keep them both together. Doesn't stop me from wanting one of these guys with a burning passion...
I thought it was aggression in mine. Now I know, I got him a female he’s not so concerned with her. Just competitive about food. He is not aggressive but he doesn’t seem interested either. I’m guessing it’ll take some time? Where did you get his harness it looks very good. Thanks!!
Oh wow That was cuter than a kitty and a puppy on a bed if marshmallows! I've always loved pigeons and was so excited when one landed in my hand to try and get a nibble of my sandwich on vacation. I love how sweet and gentle they can be. Also, I made it about six seconds into your video until I subscribed., Thanks for the awesome video!!
Hi! Genuine question here: I'm a conure owner and we generally discourage hormonal/mating behavior towards humans in the conure community. Is there a reason it's okay to let pigeons do it?
Finally someone doesn’t call it purring, or fighting, or anxiousness, as I own quite a few myself, thank you! P.S offence,but I don’t like when it’s called purring but it is in a way, you can call it that and that’s fine by me I just personally don’t prefer that term :)
Sometimes when i'm waiting in town i'll watch the pigeons and see them do this, the whole thing of puffing their necks out and following other pigeons around. Normally the other one isn't interested and they give up but i have seen them successfully mate a few times too.
I feel ethically confused if it's normal to partake in my pet's nesting behavior and be mated. My cockatails seem to be exibionists, they seem to like it more by doing it in front of a window, or in front of a crowd, or in front of me while I'm staring.
i had a pigeon like this but not intentional. he walks casually then approaches me ganging me up when i say the magic word 'koo' like i was immitating/mocking him
Driving behavior huh? I had a King Pigeon hen (I think it was) which I rescued and nursed back to health, got a dummy egg for which she sat on, and "came at me" when I would provoke her, which I thought was aggression but apparently not? I didn't know what I was doin. I guess I did but got lost in the moment if that makes sense, which she would then come at and would seem to attack. Thought she didn't like me, but she liked this other dove who was bonded with me, and didn't like the hen, but had to give them both up anyway. EDIT: I should add she was nice when she was "roosting" as I called it, on top of his cage but when in her cage she was very possessive it seemed like, etc.
