Can I add a pigeon to a parrot flock?

[JaydeParrot]

I currently have 2 Sennies, but have wanted to get a bigger bird to take out to places with me, a while ago I had a pigeon for a few weeks, once it got better (it was hurt), I released it.

However, I've noticed that a pet shop around the area is selling pet pigeons (for £20-ish each).

When I had the other pigeon I never exposed it to my Sennies, however, if I got a pigeon specifically for a pet, I would want to keep it in the same room as the Sennies.

Would there be any danger to my Sennies if I got a pigeon as well?

[Pajarita]

As long as the pigeon (or dove) doesn't carry any parasites it will be OK but pigeons/doves don't do well by themselves (they bond for life with their mates) and they are not really an interactive kind of bird so taking it with you places will be very stressing to the poor thing. They are excellent aviary birds, though, but they do require a special diet and grit.

[JaydeParrot]

This will never be tested I just wondered, which would probably win in a fight between a Senegal and a Pidgeon, a Pidgeon's weightier than a Senegal, but Senegal's definitely got a more dangerous beak. My money's on the Senegal, but seriously, what does anyone else think and why?

[Pajarita]

The Senegal, no doubt about it. The doves sold as pets are usually ringneck doves which have been domesticated for thousands of years and have lost the ability to survive on their own (that's why releasing white doves at weddings and such is so very cruel), but, even if they were a wild type of pigeon/dove, they would be shredded to bits by a parrot (their beaks are soft and not made for pecking or biting -they swallow their food whole).

[JaydeParrot]

Lol, that's what I thought, the beaks are well more dangerous... How about a budgie and a pidgeon? (...No I don't have anything better to do than ask these silly questions, ). Personally I'd say the pidgeon'd win in that fight.

Interesting bit about the wedding doves, I did always wonder where they came from, I figured they were just captured wild doves getting re-released.

[LadySaphine]

I've done a lot of research on doves and pigeons- before I got Peanut I really wanted a dove (my reason was because I wanted a more 'natural' bird... Peanut's great though!).

I would say that a pigeon/dove would be fine, just don't let it interact with your parrots. I'm looking into finches and doves still (I doubt I'll get either in the near future but maybe when I get my own house...) and they would probably do better in an aviary.

Diamond doves and ringnecks can be tamed if worked with and they can be good pets. They might not be as interactive as parrots but I like them because unlike a parrot, they don't always crave attention and do great with another bird (not saying they don't need any attention...)

[Pajarita]

LOL - They don't need to be tamed, they are born tame. Doves are the sweetest things, they never bite or have any issues whatsoever but they do need a mate. I had six ringneck doves when I had the rescue and I loved them to pieces! My husband, on the other hand, was not very fond of them because the cooing in the middle of the night bothered him...

[GreenWing]

This will never be tested I just wondered, which would probably win in a fight between a Senegal and a Pidgeon, a Pidgeon's weightier than a Senegal, but Senegal's definitely got a more dangerous beak. My money's on the Senegal, but seriously, what does anyone else think and why?

This made me LOL

My first bird was a domesticated pigeon, he was a Baku Crack Tumbler - all white with a black tail. But he was not that tame and while he could bite, no way was his bite like a sennie's!

[KimberlyAnn]

The cooing in the middle of the night? I had a male that did that HAHAHAHA sound in the middle of the night.

I had a pair of ringneck doves when I was a teenager. I kept them in a BIG cage in my room. I eventually got to the point where I could sleep through the insane laughing coming from their cage, but I will never get doves again because of that!

But other then that, they were sweet pets. They liked to snuggle in a towel on my bed while I did homework.

[KC Cameron]

I actually kept a dove in the same cage as my Macaw for years. The dove always had to be perched below the GW and had to avoid "poop bombs", but other than that they were fine.

On the other hand, I understand Senegals do not do well with other parrots, and from what I have read, a Senagal would maul or kill the dove quickly. Doves have no real defence other than escaping, and they can't do that in a cage.