play fighting/wing slapping

[Podgy's Mum]

Hi everyone, I started a thread to gain information about my pigeons moulting, and in it Spirit Wings advised

.and keep down the stress..

I had a question about this but thought it might be worth starting a thread with the title 'play fighting' to make sure it gets seen.... Thanks Spirit Wings BTW for your helpful advice yet again

My question is this - Do pigeons 'play fight' or is the warbling and bowing, tail fanning, puffing his throat up etc a sign that he is really ticked off? Podgy has taken to doing this a lot more lately - for example, he hates shoes and will do this dance before biting at the shoe. If I have bare feet he will sometimes do a similar dance without all the warbling/growling noises, begin to nuzzle in between my toes and then tries to mate my foot! At other times he will add the warbling and just bite (he isn't fussed at who the 'victim' will be - anyone will do.)

Anyway, back to the playfighting, he will do this dance/warbling at anytime - not just over shoes. He could be on my shoulder and if I push my hair out of my face he will begin then too, he does this alot. Sometimes I will gently poke at him a few times when he does and he will try to grab my finger each time. Then I gently get hold of his beak and pat him with my other hand while talking gently to him the whole time - in the meantime he is trying to break off my finger! At other times he will add wing slapping to our game. I have wondered sometimes if he does this because he is getting freaked out, but he rarely flies away when we play, he just continues until I back off. Then he will puff, bow, dance, turn circles as if to say "Yes! I am the victor again!" He will fly to me again very soon after so I don't think he is afraid.

However, when my husband comes along - Podgy knows that in this case he is not the boss - my husband is! Hubby will play with him too and finish the game by picking him up, holding him close and patting him - Podgy never seems to bite at his hands because he seems to know that he is bottom of the 'food chain' where hubby is concerned. If I picked him up however, I would end up with very chewed fingers and the 'victorious' bird dance again!

I was just wondering though, after Spirit Wings mentioned stress, would this be a cause of stress - our 'fighting' with him??

Sorry this is SO detailed and long winded - it is very difficult to give a proper picture when we can only type rather than speak.

Regards,
Dana

[Kiko&Kalani]

Hey Dana,

What you are describing is what I call their posturing. I would only worry about his "posturing" if there was another male pigeon around that he might actually get into a fight with. My understanding is that this is his way of proclaiming his territoryand impressing the ladies. It's the whole Darwin's thing; the strongest looking, acting and sounding bird gets to mate with the female) I also read somehwere that they will do this once they consider you a part of their flock. Sounds like he has definately included you in his "intimate" circle of friends .

I have noticed that Kiko does not make any noise or approach anyone that is new to him. He especially likes to show off in front of the mirror for himself (I guess he thinks it's another male). He also does a very similar version of what you describe when he is defending his turf (like when I put my hand in to get his water bowl to clean and refill) His cooing is slightly different when he is mad at me for this. At first I did not notice the difference as it looked and sounded the same as his mating ritual.

I really do not think this is stressfull to them. Unless you are constantly harrassing him and intruding into his territory and he is in defensive mode all day (which does not sound like your situation at all), I would not worry.

Good luck,
Beth