Hello!

I know the italian owls are pretty easy to tame, but the damascenes tend to be much more skittish and flighty - they may never fully tame down.

For me, I find the best way to tame my new birds is that I put all new birds through a 45-60 quarantine in my home before they are allowed in the loft. So, no treats required, after 2 months of being without other birds and having to deal me with me handling, petting, and kissing them daily, I have super tame birds. Surprisingly they seem to stay that way even after they go into the loft. I have birds that follow me around, sit on my shoe or head while I try to scrape, or leap onto my shirt for cuddles! I do continue to try and handle and pet each bird in the loft daily also. Some also are so tame they get playtime in the house with me a few times a week (or in the case of my tame feral, every day).

Spend time with them, like others suggest, that seems to be the best way. Pigeons seem to be generally well adjusted birds who take to our presence pretty well.

Good luck!
Best,
Kari Jo

I have noticed that tameness varies among pigeons. If you are lucky, you got the genetically tame pigeons. Those are very trusting and you don't need that much efforts. Then there are those flighty birds. Those give you pain.

Here is one of those projects that correlate tameness through genetics albeit with foxes: http://cbsu.tc.cornell.edu/ccgr/behaviour/History.htm

Hand feeding and spending time with them as people have mentioned gets them under control (which people call here tame--which technically may be a wrong term). Now a tame bird is that bird that can come to you without any sort of enticement. Yes, I am being an ass at the moment because from experience even the flightiest bird will come to you if it is starving or for that matter even the "tame" bird that I thought is tame will only become tame when you offer food. Enough psychology for now.

Just for the record, when I say tame I actually do mean tame.
It is possible to have tame birds in the loft, and I wanted to point this out because I personally think a pigeon can be as charming a companion as any parrot. In fact, I like Brooklyn (my tame feral) better than any parrot I ever worked with - he is as affectionate as any hand-fed cockatoo!


I don't use food to train or tame my birds, just good old fashioned TLC, love, and snuggling. Brooklyn, my most tame bird, literally follows me around, snuggles under the bed covers with me, showers with me, comes when called, and is by my side whenever possible - following me devotedly throughout the house, yard, and neighborhood without enticement or coaxing. In fact, he is on my head as I write this...

The rest of my flock range from tame to "docile". None are as tame as Brook, but they will happily hop on a outstretched hand, like being pet, kissed, and will sit quietly in the house on my lap or next to me (or my dogs) on the sofa without being restrained. Some will come to me for attention without any coaxing. Brooklyn and the old frill hen will both fly directly from the loft to inside the house.

My "docile" birds are basically birds that react very calmly to my presence and allow me to gently pick them up and handle them without squirming or fussing. My WOE Tumbler and Buda Hen are docile birds, I can handle them easily but thy will calmly walk out of my way when I am in the loft. However, my Buda babies, black ancient hen, budapest cock (The Horrible Friedman, LOL), and Classic Old Frill are tame and seek my attention of their own accord. It's not hunger - they have food available all day. I really think the isolation during quarantine and daily attention from me really helps them to become "pets" and not just wild loft birds. Just wanted to let people know it is very easy and very possible to have tame pet-quality pigeons. That's what I breed for actually, and I chose breeds with generally docile temperaments so I could produce birds that could be kept in the home as a pet just as easily as they could be put in a loft or shown.



Best,
Kari Jo