Found a wood pigeon

[bluegirl]

Hi all, six months ago I found a wood pigeon in the middle of the road. I stopped the car and went to investigate. I could see that the bird could walk, it had no obvious injuries but it was unable to fly. I scooped it up and took it home and after a couple of days put it in my aviary (which houses budgies and cockatiels). Now this is not the first wild bird I've mixed with my own birds so I know they can get on, we had a collared dove that was attacked by a bird of prey and lost an eye in the attack and suffered spinal damage because it was never able to fly again and I also found on a previous occasion a young wood pigeon which I fed up and released after about 3 weeks once it was strong enough.
I had been trying to release this present wood pigeon for some time now but it just can't fly, even if it lands on the floor of the aviary it is unable to get back onto a low perch so I go in several times a day and put it back where the food is. I've now given up trying and it'll stay, but, and this is why I ask, recently I have been given the chance to have a Modena pigeon and I'm guessing the sex of my resident bird would be important, not that I want them to breed, but for a companion point of view.
Any help with sexing my wood pigeon or views in general would be appreciated at this point please.

[Feefo]

My first thought on this is that alothough woodies are very gentle birds that can be trusted to share space with smaller birds like collared doves. I don't know that a Modena would be as tolerant. Our feral and fan tailed rescues will go for the doves if they get grounded, they also try at other times but the doves are too agile for them.

It is very hard, in my view, to sex a woodie. We had to wait until one laid eggs to determine that she was female and assumed her mate was male, but we got it wrong, they had paired up because they only had each other and now both have male mates.

It also depends on how old your woodie was when you found it...was it an adult or a juvenile?

The male woodie is the one that will make the territorial cry of "Twoo cooos Taffy...it's", he will also bow and coo to the females. The female is quiet.

The male wood pigeon also has slightly brighter plumage than the female, but I can't see that. If you scroll down this link you should find a photos of a male and a femal wood pigeon (I have over compressed the male and will have to correct that, but the photos are reasonably clear)

[bluegirl]

Thanks for that, it looked adult when I found it. I have heard it coo and I can't work out if it is trying to object to the third unpartnered cockatiel I have or whether as I suspected it was attempting to pair with it. Bearing in mind this behaviour I had suspected it was male.

[bluegirl]

Just to let you know I went to see the Modena tonight and it was beautiful. It was an unpaired bird which had hatched last year. The farmer told me I wouldn't have any bother with it at all as they were pleasant birds. It looked very relaxed, so I decided to take it especially as the farmer wanted me to take it back to him should things not work out. They are now both together in my aviary, both a little wary of each other but the modena is as steady as a rock with my budgies and cockatiels which I thought may spook it and with me being in the aviary although I appreciate it will take a couple of days to see its true personality.

[Feefo]

That is good. Is the Modena a hen?

Woodies and other species of pigeons do sometimes become mates, even when there are birds of their own species around. They also can breed, but the resultant hybrids are infertile.

[bluegirl]

The farmer thinks it may be male, they are difficult to sex like the Wood pigeons, so I think I may have 2 males.
Alls well again this morning, the Modena is so used to humans he isn't fazed at all when I go in and the two although not on the same perch are not sitting too far away from each other at all so all looks promising.