Do the pigeon. Where do the pigeons hide their chicks? Nesting and reproduction in nature

Many people are interested in the question of where pigeons live and how doves mate. The pigeon bird is well known to the world, which we can meet almost everywhere: in squares, parks, on streets, window sills, roofs of houses - it came to us from the steppe. Some scientists called this species the gray-gray, while others called the steppe. Given the fact that the bird can be quickly domesticated, a new type was bred - city pigeons.

We often see only adults, but rarely does anyone see the nests of small chicks, and therefore almost no one knows where they live. In this article, we will tell you how pigeons breed and where their children are. We will also find out at what age they leave their parental nests and begin an independent life.

Habitat

Pigeons are fairly common birds throughout the world. Scientists found out that these individuals came to us from Europe or North Africa. In the wild, they live for about five years, and at home they can live up to fifteen. It is very rare for pigeons to live up to the age of thirty, but this happens.

All pigeon breeders are interested in how pigeons mate, reproduce and feed their offspring. Since the success of this process depends on whether the offspring will become strong, healthy, and whether it will be possible to breed new breeds. Therefore, first of all, you should find out what these birds are fascinating, how they behave in the wild, and how they create pairs. We will tell you in detail how pigeons mate and reproduce, as well as all the features of this process.

Mating process

Mating pigeons can take place at different periods depending on the climate in the region. In our climatic latitudes, crossing occurs in the spring. Before proceeding with the question of how pigeons mate, it is necessary to determine who is of which sex. Very often, sexual characteristics are not clearly expressed, the main one, of course, is the size of the body. Pigeons are usually larger than doves and rougher. Females are fragile, delicate and refined. But the most accurate method for determining the sex of a bird is to observe its behavior in a normal environment.

Ready to breed

Pigeons usually start puberty at 6 months of age, but the best age for reproduction is 1–2 years. By that time, all organ systems are formed, the immunity is strong, the bird is already ready to fulfill parental responsibilities. The fertility of the bird increases every year up to 5 years.

The age of pigeons can be determined by the wax, which increases annually. The highest fertility rates are in birds that are well fed, strong and already molted. If they are kept in captivity, then for the winter the pigeons and doves are separated into different houses, fed with grain and vitamin supplements so that the eggshells and bones of the babies are strong.

Mating season

Like any animal, the pigeon also has feelings and, of course, performs its own "marriage ceremony". Therefore, further we will talk about how pigeons breed (photo in the article). Males, having chosen the female they like, begin to coo next to her. They inflate their goiter, spread their tail, whirl and coo loudly. At this time, the doves bow to the males, show their readiness to breed and swim up to them on their tail. If the dance was between two males, then it ends in a fight. The same happens if the female is more active than the male, then they will not be able to mate.

An interesting fact is that the couples are made up of pigeons that are similar in temperament. Therefore, an inactive pigeon with a very active female will not be able to successfully mate and reproduce, just like a weak female with a lively male. If the couples are matched correctly, then marriage is quickly formed.

After that, they nestle against each other, tenderly pinch feathers and kiss with their beaks. It is important to know that pigeons are monogamous birds, so if you release a real pair back into the dovecote with the rest of the birds, you can be sure they will stay together forever. These birds know how to be faithful, new couples most often stay not for a couple of seasons, but for life.

Nests

A very important point in the breeding process is the arrangement of nests. Those pigeons that live in the wild look for secluded places for themselves to hatch on their own, and help the domestic ones in building their home. If you have a large dovecote, then you can put a couple of large branches on the floor, and then the pigeons themselves will find themselves a convenient and comfortable place.

Intercourse of pigeons

In the question of how pigeons mate (see the photo in the article), we will consider two types of intercourse: natural and forced. In the first version, the male independently chooses a partner for himself, and in the second, the man does it for him in order to breed a certain breed.

Those couples that have formed naturally, are strong, faithful to each other all their lives, reproduce successfully, lay eggs. And those couples that were created forcibly are often aggressive, males are inattentive to the female, and after mating they quickly forget about them. After that, they can still form alliances with other females.

How pigeons mate: anatomical process

When the female begins to prepare the clutch, all sorts of changes take place in all her organs and tissues. An increase in the amount of proteins, fats, carbohydrates, vitamins is observed in the blood. The female has one ovary and oviduct, the male has two testicles. Fertilization of eggs on the funnel of the oviduct occurs upon completion of mating. After the pigeons make a mating flight. Then later, the female flies into the nest and lays an egg.

Hatching eggs and giving birth to chicks

If mating goes well, the female prepares to lay eggs. The behavior of the bird will tell whether it will hen or not. If she moves a little and sits for a long time, then eggs will soon appear. Two weeks after mating, laying will begin, lasting several days. Usually the dove lays one egg at a time, the weight of which is 20 grams with a break of 40-45 hours. After hatching begins. It can be performed by both the female and the male for 20 days. After laying, it is undesirable to disturb the bird for a week, and when the time has passed, the eggs need to be ovoscoped. As a rule, a young dove successfully incubates 65% of its chicks, and a mature dove - 95%.

Newborn pigeons

Chicks hatch 18 days after laying. The chick pecks at the shell from the middle and frees itself from it in a couple of hours. Sometimes this process can take up to a day. Chicks are born without feathers and with closed eyes, so their parents protect and warm them very carefully.

When the chicks are born, the parents feed them milk from the goiter for the first two weeks, and then softened grains. The first hatched chick receives food from its parents in 3-4 hours, while the second in 15-16, so they develop unevenly. After 45 days, the pigeons are already similar to their parents, and it is no longer possible to distinguish them in the flock.

Why don't we see pigeons on the street?

It may seem to city dwellers that the number of pigeons is increasing miraculously, all the birds on the street are adults, but we don't see chicks anywhere. A logical question follows, do they exist? We can assure you that there are chicks, and there is an excellent explanation for the fact that we do not see them. To some extent, this is due to where the birds nest: pigeons usually build their homes in places that resemble caves and rocks. And in big cities they build houses under windowsills, on roofs, under bridges. There is another reason why pigeons do not appear on the streets. They do not leave their nests from 4 to 6 weeks after birth, until they grow up.

Residents speak of pigeons as flying rats, but I would like to note that these birds are very good and responsible parents. The male and the female together feed and incubate the children, and if one parent dies, then the second will do everything to raise his offspring, even if it is very difficult for him. So, as a rule, chicks survive.

When they are old enough to live on their own, they begin to ignore their parents and feed on their own. Young pigeons adhere to a flock of birds and live close to their families. Also, pigeons have their own territory, where they constantly spend time, and if the bird is taken away from there, it will try to return to its usual place.

In Christianity, the dove is a symbol of the Holy Spirit, peace, baptism and carries the Good News. According to the legends of the Bible, Noah sent a dove to find dry land after the flood, and he brought an olive branch.
Simple urban pigeons perfectly keep a reference point in space and always find their way home. First of all, birds on their way remember some features of the landscape, secondly, they remember smells well, and they have an "internal compass" that helps them navigate by the Sun.
There is another interesting fact that researchers encountered just a few years ago. It turns out that pigeons can distinguish the habits of people. The experiment proceeded as follows, two researchers of approximately the same build treated pigeons differently. The first was kind and courteous, and the second, while feeding, chased them around the cage. After some time, the scientists stopped appearing in front of the pigeons, but when they came again, the birds recognized them. They kept away from the one who offended them, and to the second, who was kind to them, they flew even if they did it.

There are about 300 species of pigeons in the world. They live in all corners of the earth, except in areas that are too cold. But most of them live in tropical climates.
Urban pigeons have a very interesting organism. At first, they fill the stomach, and when the food no longer fits, they send it to the goiter, which consists of two bags. Initially, the left pouch is filled a little and then the right pouch. The principle is like a hamster.
They drink in an interesting way. Pigeons stick their beak into the water and suck the liquid through it as if it were straw.
Interestingly, pigeons develop speeds of up to 70 km per hour and can fly up to 900 km per day.

In this article, we told you how pigeons mate, where their offspring live, and why we don't see little pigeons on the street. In the end, I want to say one thing: pigeons are a symbol of peace, kindness and love, and therefore you need to treat them accordingly, feed them and, of course, not offend.

Pigeons have a bad reputation today. Many perceive them as stupid birds that shit on the streets and spread disease. Some call them "winged rats." Although there is no basis for such an attitude, especially since pigeons are incredibly smart creatures.

Ordinary urban pigeons are well-versed in space and will always find their way home. Firstly, pigeons remember the features of the landscape on their way; secondly, they remember smells; thirdly, they have a "built-in compass" with which they orient themselves according to the sun. If one of these traits fails, the bird cannot find its way home. Banal artificial street lighting can prevent the pigeon from returning home.

Researchers at the University of Oxford, as part of the experiment, equipped the birds with a GPS navigation system to track their route during flight. During their journey, the two pigeons had the choice of returning home individually or in pairs. The birds found a compromise and chose something in between - they went along a common route, close to their separate routes leading home. The fact is that pigeons are able to obey the leader and follow him, but if the routes of the pigeons are completely different or directed in different directions, then a compromise is not possible. It should be noted that pigeons in a flock overcome the route much more efficiently than alone.

Another interesting fact was encountered by researchers several years ago, when they realized that pigeons can distinguish the faces of people. During the experiment, two researchers, approximately the same in build and type, treated pigeons differently: one was kind, and the other chased them around the cage during feeding. After a certain time, the researchers stopped appearing in front of the pigeons, but when they reappeared, the birds recognized them and began to avoid the one who behaved aggressively in the past, despite the fact that he stood at attention.

Among the little-known facts about pigeons, the ability of birds to remember certain information for a long time should be highlighted. Another experiment, carried out at the Mediterranean Institute of Cognitive Neurology, was aimed at measuring the memory properties of pigeons compared to baboons. Pigeons and baboons were often shown the picture and color, and the animals had to remember the associations. The pigeons managed to memorize between 800 and 1200 associations. Although they lost in the competition to the baboons, this is a good result.

In recent years, research has shown that pigeons are familiar with abstract mathematics. They tend to calculate their behavior, which was previously considered the prerogative of only primates. During the experiment, three sets of objects were shown to three pigeons on a screen. One set had one item, the second had two, and the third had three. All objects varied in color, shape and size. Pigeons were taught to peck on the screen, first a set with one object, then with two, and later with three. When they did exactly what they were asked to do without error, the pigeons were shown sets containing one to nine items, respectively. As a result, the pigeons were able to distinguish sets with one, two and three objects, although they were not taught that there can be more than three objects. This experiment showed that pigeons are able to understand the nature of numbers and that causality is not alien to them.

Many facts about the role of pigeons in human history are missing from textbooks. But everyone is well aware that people have used pigeon mail since time immemorial. Therefore, during the siege of Paris during the Franco-Prussian War, the defenders of the city used this talent of pigeons to transmit messages, which was faster than the telegraph. For obvious reasons, less than 10% of the birds survived the First World War. Many of the survivors were awarded the Maria Deakin medals for their invaluable services.

4. Pigeons have superstitious behavior.

In 1947, Skinner published the results of an experiment in which small pigeons were placed in a cage. They were fed regularly at regular intervals. Over time, 6 out of 8 pigeons showed interesting behavior. One of the birds regularly repeated the same movement - stuck its head into the corner of the cage, the other continuously moved around the cage in a circle. The fact is that the birds decided that they were feeding them only because of their strange behavior.

3. Relatives of the Dodo bird

DNA analysis of pigeons showed similarities with the extinct dodo bird. A relative of the modern pigeon is the multi-colored Nicobar pigeon, which lives in Southeast Asia and the Nicobar Islands. Prior to this scientific discovery, it was difficult to determine which family the extinct dodo bird belonged to, since it had unique external physical features.

2. Pigeons can be of different colors

It seems to many that pigeons are mostly medium-sized, dark gray in color and live on the streets of the city. Most of them, yes, but this is only one kind. Pigeons live all over the world and many of them look very beautiful. For example, there are fruit pigeons that surprise with their vibrant greens, reds and yellows.

1. Pigeons are several thousand years old

Pigeons can be called human companions. The first documentary mention of them appeared more than 5000 years ago in Mesopotamia. In Egypt, the remains of pigeons were found in ancient human burials. There have been cases in history when people treated pigeons as sacred birds. They were worshiped, they were exalted. Despite the fact that some species of pigeons have disappeared and became rare, they coexist with people for thousands of years.

It is important for a breeder to know how to distinguish a pigeon from a dove: this will help in keeping track of the flock and reproductive capabilities. Different methods are used to determine the sex of these birds. These are body structure, behavior (like a dove hugging a dove), voice characteristics (like a male cooing). In addition, the folk method is also used to distinguish a female from a male.

When a pigeon and a dove are sitting side by side, the male usually hugs his girlfriend.

Some sources claim that experienced pigeon breeders can distinguish between belonging. However, it happens that they are also wrong.

Sex determination methods

External characteristic

Dove and dove differ in size. If the male is without genetic abnormalities, then he is larger than the female. However, this method does not work in the case of decorative varieties. In such breeds, the male looks more graceful and fragile than the dove.

Another way to determine the sex of a member of a pigeon flock is to look at:

head: in females it is smaller, eyes are more expressive and prominent, neck is thinner;
beak: in females, the base of the beak is narrower, and in males, it is thicker and dumber, the waxes are better developed.

Disadvantages of this technique:

individual external features of different pigeon breeds (in meat breeds, "boys" are much larger);
Age: An older female has coarser eyelids than a younger male.

Using the autosex line method, it is easy to find out whether "boy" is in front of you or "girl". Experienced pigeon breeders who understand the characteristics of the breed will determine the sex by color: for example, in males, the color of the plumage is lighter.

The male is usually larger than the female

The structure of the pelvis

The pelvic bones are located under the ribcage, in the caudal region. In females, the distance between them is wider (not less than the phalanx of a finger), in males they almost close. The downside of this method is that it does not apply to birds that have not yet started laying.

It is also possible to make a mistake in the case of specimens of a loose physique or those who had previously had rickets, suffering from a lack of calcium.

Behavioral characteristics

Pigeon breeders of the older generation advise to pull the bird by the nose. According to them, females react calmly to such treatment, and male specimens break out. In practice, the livestock behaves unpredictably in such a situation, sometimes females are more active and aggressive.

Disadvantages of the method:

often this or that reaction indicates temperament and character;
we are also talking about tameness and resistance to stress.

If you put two male representatives in a cage, who are active and aggressive, then a conflict will begin. This is due to the struggle for living space, the desire to find out which of them is stronger. This is in contrast to two females who coexist peacefully and even coo. The heterosexual specimens begin to mate: the dove hugs the dove, actively caring for it.

Doves planted in a cage will not fight among themselves

During the mating season, male birds are active. They unfurl their tail feathers, inflate a goiter, and take an upright position. During courtship, the dove hugs the dove, pursues it. If you plant a female to a male, then her behavior is more relaxed. She coos, runs away from pursuit and falls on her tail. If she accepts courtship, then dissolves the plumage on the lower back, bows and nods.

Disadvantages of this method:

sometimes pigeon males are inactive;
pugnaciousness and peacefulness also depend on the breed and individual character of the bird;
in a stressful situation (in the market and so on), the behavior of birds differs from usual, so the buyer is easily mistaken.

According to the breeders, during courtship courtship, it will be possible to distinguish belonging both by the way the pigeon hugs the dove and by the behavior towards a person. If you take the bird by both wings with one hand and stroke the breast with the other, the "boy" will squeeze his paws (which the "girls" do not do).

During the mating season, it is not difficult to distinguish the sex of pigeons.

Traditional methods

Determination of gender in the first version is based on the voice and is not always characterized by high accuracy. Breeders claim that the male's voice is louder and harsher. According to the testimony of some pigeon breeders, the sounds that the female makes are more breast-like and "burr".

Wild representatives, in addition to the sign of how a pigeon hugs a dove, can also be identified by mating, which occurs only during the mating season.

Another popular method is to take a brass, bronze or copper pendulum and hold it over the bird's back. If it is a female, the plumb line rotates in a circular manner, if the male, it sways along the ridge. The method is questionable, but some novice breeders use it.

Chicks

Determining whether "boy" is in front of you or "girl" is even more difficult than in the case of adult representatives. Behavior (as in adults, when a pigeon hugs a dove) has not yet been formed. Male chicks usually have a larger head, but they themselves are larger. However, for some breeds there are exact criteria: for "girls" -texans, the down is long, for "boys" it is short.

The dove of the Texan breed has pronounced sexual differences

Regardless of the approximate likelihood of each method, keep in mind the results they show. This will help:

avoid further difficulties in the formation of pigeon pairs;
identify individuals with hormonal or genetic disorders.

The listed methods will tell you how to distinguish a pigeon from a dove. All of them are not 100 percent accurate, much depends on the characteristics of the breed, age, individual qualities (a pigeon hugs a dove, but more active behavior on the part of an aggressive female is possible). However, these techniques will help the breeder in identifying overly feminine male birds or overly active females.

Almost any bird of the pigeon family can fly well. Their entire body is built to make it easier to stay in the air. The small size of the internal organs and the absence of unnecessary weights (such as teeth, bladder) make them lightweight. The pigeon can reach speeds of up to 100 km per hour. The highest flight altitude is from 1 to 3 km. You will learn many other details from this article.

Speed and maneuverability in flight

We talked about the structure of the body, plumage and colors of the birds of this order in the article Now let's talk about other important points.

There are two types of flight of pigeons - sailing, rowing. They can alternate with each other. The birds use the first, taking off and gaining sufficient height in an area where air currents move continuously. Hovering in a circle, the bird from time to time connects its spread wings.

The rowing flight of a bird is the main mode of climb and movement. When the wing is raised, the flight feathers turn so that the air passes between them, and when lowering the wing becomes dense. Due to the generated wind, the pigeon flies.

Also, these birds can "fly" in place. At the same time, they make fluttering movements with their wings and spread their tail, which does not allow them to move forward. In normal flight, this part of the body is of great importance - it serves as a rudder.

Briefly about the physiology of pigeons

All pigeons have a strong but lightweight skeleton, almost entirely composed of hollow bones. Its mass is only 9% of the total body weight. Most of the vertebrae are spliced, which gives the body stability in flight. But the tail is very mobile. The muscles are best developed on the chest. They account for up to 25% of the total weight of the bird.

Representatives of this detachment spend almost their entire life in flight or on the ground, nesting among stones or in other shelters. That is why pigeons do not sit on trees, or rather, they do not like to do this. The land is dearer to them as a place of rest and nesting.

The skin of pigeons is completely devoid of sebaceous, sweat glands. But there are complex respiratory organs: air sacs, bronchi and lungs, lower larynx, trachea, upper larynx and nasal cavity.

There are some peculiarities in the digestive system of pigeons. Like other birds, they have a goiter, the stomach has two sections, but there is no gall bladder. However, the opinion that there is no bile is a delusion. It is there, but it is excreted directly into the intestines.

Stare into the sun and not go blind: the senses

Pigeons are adapted to a daytime lifestyle. In light, their eyes see very well, and the bird relies heavily on sight.

The iris, like the diaphragm, controls the amount of incoming light. And it’s so good that a pigeon can sit against the sun and look directly at it for long hours. Therefore, if you have this bird at home, and she loves to sit on the windowsill on a sunny day, you can be sure that the bright light will not harm her. However, with the onset of darkness, the acuity of pigeon vision decreases.

Also, pigeons have a very sensitive, keen hearing. At the same time, their ears, like most birds, are devoid of shells and are indicated on the outside by only a barely noticeable fold of skin.

Pigeons can distinguish all tastes - sweet, salty, bitter, sour. They feel bad smells, but they have a more or less developed sense of touch. Sensory nerve endings are found on the paws of the bird, around the eyes and on the beak.

Nesting and reproduction in nature

A pair of pigeons is created one for life. In this case, mating of birds is preceded by mating games. Interestingly, males come into conflict with each other, but even victory does not guarantee the female's favor. She makes a choice relying only on her own instinct.

Female pigeons are called pigeons. Before mating, the couple takes care of each other: they pinch feathers, huddle, “kiss” with their beaks. The male demonstrates plumage and strength by fluffing feathers, spreading his wings and dancing. Two weeks after mating, the dove begins laying, which lasts up to three days. Young birds usually lay two eggs, while older birds lay only one. The eggs weigh about 20 g. Both the female and the male hatch.

Pigeons nest between stones or in caves - where predators cannot reach the clutch. The nest itself is simple, looks like a bunch of branches and grass. It is used by birds several times.

Pigeon chicks hatch after 16-19 days. They hatch at different times. The male and female feed them in turn. In a month, the kids are ready to fly. They become sexually mature birds in six months.

Reproduction of birds in the dovecote

Artificial mating of pigeons is used in breeding work. At home, bird breeding begins in March-April. Before that, you need to carry out a general cleaning in the dovecote and put special houses there for birds to mate. The newlyweds will live there. Straw or hay is placed inside the houses for softness.

Females are allowed to fly longer before mating. Also, a month before the procedure, it is better to separate the boys from the girls in order to stimulate the pigeons' interest in each other and give them a rest.

Further, you can let the birds choose each other themselves, or you can force them to be brought together by planting them in one box. The latter is important when you need to mate strictly defined pigeons. However, fertilization in this case is more difficult to achieve, and males can be aggressive.

Sometimes two females and even males can form a pair. However, they behave in exactly the same way as ordinary pairs of pigeons of different sexes. Females even lay and incubate eggs, but chicks from them, of course, do not hatch. Such pigeons make excellent hens for other people's eggs, if the dove died or for some reason abandoned the clutch.

How long do birds live in nature and in captivity?

How old pigeons live depends on many factors. This is the climate, the usefulness and variety of the diet, free or home content. In the northern regions, birds live much less than their southern relatives. Cold climate, lack of food, and lack of sun also affect.

In nature, the lifespan of a bird does not exceed 8 years. Predators have an influence here, because many animals hunt pigeons. In addition, in the natural environment it is more difficult to hide from bad weather, to find good food, but it is easier to face infections. Even a simple neighborhood with a person prolongs the life of birds. Human habitation has fewer predators, you can always find food, shelter from the cold.

Domestic pigeons live much longer than savages - up to 20 years. A certain role in this is played by the works of breeders who breed physically strong, disease-resistant birds. This allows them to actively exist for many years.

Note that the breed also depends on how long pigeons live. Most often, centenarians are found among ornamental birds.

Domestication of wild species

Even in ancient times, people began to tame and breed pigeons. Most scientists are inclined to believe that the first bird that was tamed by man was the dove, familiar to us. It is impossible to establish the date, but according to rough estimates, it happened 5-10 thousand years ago.

According to one version, for the first time a pigeon became a close neighbor of man in the Middle East. Then agriculture flourished, birds were attracted by the availability of plants and seeds.

According to another assumption, birds settled in ancient temples that people erected on the sea coast. Finally, it is assumed that a person tamed and began to breed a pigeon at home for meat and eggs.

Today, these birds are less often kept for meat (there are special breeds for this). For many, breeding beautiful and peaceful pigeons is a pleasant hobby. It allows you to escape from the everyday hustle and bustle, because a flock of pigeons circling in the sky is a very beautiful, pacifying sight.

Pros and cons of living birds next to humans

In how closely pigeons coexist with people, there are positive and negative sides for both.

So, in rural areas, it is easier for birds to find food, but sometimes they can harm plantings. Pigeons in the city can serve as decoration and even a kind of attraction. How can you imagine, for example, Trafalgar Square without flocks of pigeons. Or the Venetian Piazza San Marco.

However, when there are many birds, they cause serious harm:

pollute the surrounding space with droppings and feathers;
peck at plants;
destroying buildings and monuments, trying to pull out windblown seeds from small cracks with their beaks.

Some people try to avoid pigeon habitats for fear of contamination. Of course, birds can carry psittacosis, histoplasmosis and other infections, but in an ordinary city, the chance of infection from birds is small. It is even less than the ability to catch the disease from other pets.

Variety of breeds - from chicken to peacocks

Today, there are almost 800 breeds, not counting the wild birds, which include the pigeon-like order. They are divided into three groups: sports, decorative and meat. In our country, breeders and hobbyists keep pigeons of 200 breeds. As a rule, they live in dovecotes, but sometimes they are kept as pets in a cage, which is placed on a windowsill.

The largest group is decorative pigeons. These are puffers (they inflate the goiter like a ball), chicken (for example, a Modena pigeon), Asian (similar to peacocks), exhibition tumblers. Russians fell in love with colored breeds. These are the Saxon magic swallow, the Russian Arkhangelsk and starling pigeons, the Danish subian.

The main characteristic of sports pigeons is the ability to develop high speed and cover great distances. After the first competitions held in Belgium, professionals have bred the breed of pigeons "travelers", or "Voyageurs". From them came the modern high-speed birds. Some of them can fly at speeds up to 145 km per hour.

Meat pigeons - king, carno - are not widespread in Russia. In other countries, they are bred for food. The peculiarity of such birds is their large weight, up to a kilogram.

Continuing the topic, you will learn about the importance of the image of a dove in the culture of different peoples and the unusual abilities of these birds.

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How to tell a pigeon from a dove

The basic rules are gleaned from the exterior and behavior of wild pigeons. In nature, the male is always larger. The main task of the female is to raise offspring, so she should be inconspicuous for predators, which means she should have a discreet gray plumage. These birds create stable pairs, so the difference is especially noticeable in the two individuals when they are close.
In the process of breeding new breeds, the above characteristics ceased to be absolute. And now, to determine gender, they also take into account:

the size of the head, beak;
color;
exterior: size, color of feathers, structure of the pelvic bones;
behavioral characteristics, including voice, behavioral features.

Did you know?Pigeons have a unique eye structure. He is not afraid of bright light or laser flashes.

Beak and head

The male is distinguished by a high, steep forehead, a more powerful and short neck, and a large, rounded head. The female is sleeker and has a small head on a longer neck. The eyes of the dove are larger and more expressive. The male's beak and wax are coarser and thicker.
The age of the individual also matters. A young pigeon is smaller and more graceful than the old one. Sizes are taken into account within one breed, since males of small and medium breeds are always smaller than large-breed individuals.

By color

Females have soft plumage. The male color is more intense, often interspersed with additional colors:

more intense neck color;
the presence of a metallized ebb neck.

Often the color of the male forms additional patterns on the wings and tail. An exception may be made by representatives of decorative breeds. Here, the plumage of both sexes can be the same in intensity.

Did you know?In nature, wild pigeons do not sit on trees. They prefer rocks. That is why urban individuals love monuments - they remind them of rocks.

By bird size

The male is always larger, with a massive body. Moreover, it is also heavier. The female is sleeker, shorter, with a small head. Please note that some decorative breeds have larger females. This fact is necessarily described in the exterior characteristics of the breed.

By the structure of the pelvis

To determine, take the bird in your hands and stroke it in the lower abdomen. Closer to the tail, you will feel two thin bones. The distance between them in the female is about 1 cm, and in the male they are located very close to each other.

Important!Females of all pigeon breeds need the presence of a male for laying. Therefore, some breeders are tricky and equip the laying place with a mirror.

This method does not work for birds that have recovered from diseases of the bones, including rickets. When purchasing pigeons for breeding, keep in mind that such individuals will no longer give you absolutely healthy offspring.

By voice

It is believed that the male's voice is rougher, the sounds he makes are sharper and louder. Females mainly make cooing sounds. During the mating season, with a loud roar, the male demonstrates his power to his rivals.

By behavior

Two males in a cage usually resolve issues of hierarchical superiority and can fight. Doves are calmer. Two birds of different sexes in one cage begin to mate. The pigeon takes a proud pose and begins to care for the dove.

If the female does not like the admirer, she runs away from him. During the mating season, the partner fluffs up feathers, inflates a goiter, coos loudly and circles around the partner. Accepting courtship, she quietly coos, squats on her tail and bows.

Did you know?Despite adapting to cold climates, most of the 300 species of pigeons on the planet live in the tropics.

Folk method

To determine the gender, a brass or copper pendulum is taken. It is centered over the bird's back. If it swings in a circle, it is a female; if it swings along its body, it is a male. Another popular method is stroking the breast.
The male in this situation tightens its legs, but the female does not. There is no scientific justification for folk methods of sex determination yet.

Important!Pigeon meat is 6 times more nutritious than chicken meat. And if you add any berries to the poultry ration 2 weeks before serving, then the meat will be even more tasty and aromatic.

They are based only on the many years of experience of pigeon breeders. It is believed that if you pull the bird by the beak, the dove will take it calmly, and the dove will start to escape.

Video: a way to determine the sex of pigeons