True love?

[Geranyl]

Woah! ok, so there were 2 pigeons on my balcony for a long time but the female couldn't lay a complete egg. Her shells were always soft and would break (not a vitD deficiency, there is something else wrong with her). So the male picked up a new partner, had 6 babies this summer, and now suddenly, what do I see? He's back with his original partner even though they never managed to have babies! For all those scientists who say pigeons are monogamous...

[Trees Gray]

Thank you for that very interesting bit of information, I've never seen that before. Hope the orginal mate is doing better.

Although pigeons basically "mate for life" I have males that will have an occasional "hen on the side" so to speak, but they never actually leave their original mate for them. This happens at times with there are more females then there are males.

[Lady Tarheel]

My husband told me this morning that our male beauty Pinto who has been Michael's mate for about three years has now taken up with Glenda who is a very very small rescue of about 2 years. Michael ought to intervene...

[Geranyl]

The "summer mate" came back today and the male attacked her badly. The other day I remember seeing them fight beak to beak .....and then the old mate moved back in.....strange

[Trees Gray]

Sounds like a soap opera....

[ZigZagMarquis]

Originally Posted by Geranyl

... For all those scientists who say pigeons are monogamous...

If there are any scientists out there that actually think pigeons are monogamous, they need to build themselves a loft and put a dozen or so pigenos in there and watch them for a season or so.

Oh, and its not just the cock-birds that have a "hen on the side"... sometimes its also the hens that have a... well... err... you get it...

[ernie]

I have a white homer hen that is mated to a white fantail cock. The first round of babies were 1/2 fantail 1/2 homer and pure white. Every batch of babies since looks pure homer with spots of black or grey in them. That tells me she's out playing the field, while poor Zeus is home guarding the nest.
LOL