Is it ok to have one pet pigeon?

our pigeon has bonded to my teenage son & whenever my son goes into the bathroom, the bird just flies from my son's bed to the bathroom door & back again, until my son is finished & exits. but when my son leaves the house, the bird will deem one of the rest of us "good enough" to hang out with. 😹 with four people in the house, it's pretty rare for our bird to be alone for any length of time. he's the king of the household & we live to serve our feathery ruler. 😻

back in the '80s I rescued a pigeon from our back alley that couldn't stand or fly though I never figured out what was wrong with him (or her?)... a few weeks of TLC in our house seemed to do the trick and it eventually could move about just fine! it flew out, and would fly back in whenever a door or window was opened sadly by that point my parents wouldn't let the bird stay with us anymore, and I guess it finally learned to stop trying to come visit. but I still think about my pigeon whenever I watch your channel

Your birds are very lucky to have you 🕊🕊

I have a pigeon and a dove, both rescued when they were babies. They are my children, and I love them very much, and yes, they do require a LOT of attention from me.

Im so glad that you're still making videos. You do the best pet pigeon videos on YouTube. They're both thoughtful and entertaining. Thanks and keep at it.

Awesome video! I currently have 1 pigeon, and yeah, they're NEEDY. Im lucky enough to have a life that accommodates the "one pigeon life."

I got two (male and female) because the breeder strong armed me into it by saying how well they do together and that it makes the birds so happy. I regret it every day. The problem is actually that they get along TOO well. They are very focused on each other and breeding/nesting. The problem for me is that I have lots of time to spend with a bird and don’t leave home much, so one bird would have been better for me. I wanted a pet I could be close to. My two are very low maintenance by being together, but they also want little to do with me which is not what I wanted. Just depends what you are looking for I guess, but I wish I wasn’t pressured into getting them both. Even if I got them a year apart it may have been better as they might have had better bonds with me from that time.

This is exactly how it went for our budgies. We'd spend everyday with our first one for years, him out the cage with us and toys, he developed bad hormonal issues and had to hump his toys everyday. Despite our constant attention and bonding with him, and making sure he had a good diet/vet visits said he was okay, and we always tried to keep his hormonal behaviour down in every way we could. When we got the second bird, his hormonal issues stopped. He doesn't hump any toys anymore, or the other budgie, he is more himself again :) however, like you said...they aren't that close, they bicker and refuse to share food and the new bird is young and fiesty, however they're bonded and will preen and feed eachother despite not being super chummy ❤

Very beautiful pigeons

Same for me. My first pigeon was happy with just me. Then I rescued a second bird whom she hated! I released the second after his injury healed. 🕊️🌠

Thank you for putting this out so very well! 🥰 We have Sophie (The Pigeon) which is our rescue pigeon, she came from a VERY bad situation and a vet even thought she would never fully recover anymore (as in able to fly for example)... She luckily did, with one of us spending A LOT of time (read: months!) of time with her, building trust, doing (VERY SLOWLY) exercises with her (to regain full use of her wings again etc), during this period it was almost a 24/7 task (aside from me sleeping of course) of spending time with her. This dedication and attention caused her (unintentionally) to bond very strongly with me, and despite that we tried to see how she would do with another pigeon as 'real buddy/mate', she would not do well AT ALL (indeed very defensive, jealous and even aggression). I sometimes also get comment's like "she needs a mate"... Well guess what? You are right: She already has a mate (in her eyes) and that's me. It works perfectly for her, I work from home, she literally spends her entire day with me and around me (even goes with me everywhere I go outside). Sure there are some (rare) instances she can't come along, and HAS to stay at home, but that's just fine and it doesn't bother her to much. She has a very nice (and large) 'cage' (we call it her room) to spend such (rare) occasions in, with enough to entertain herself, and I can keep an eye on her with an IP Camera. All in all, i'm glad someone put the effort in making a video like this to explain it to people with 'the wrong idea' 😄 Sophie has her own shorts on my channel where she shares her 'happy pigeon life and adventures', and other social media accounts (which I won't share here since it isn't meant as 'advertising' at all, and due to those 'channels' people around us are now also starting to see that she is really happy, enjoying all the things she does, and that she gets everything she deserves (and more) 😄 I will definitely link (or embed) this video on her own blog to explain/show to people that it's perfectly okay to have 'just' one pigeon. "Just" one pigeon, also "just" means that you are willing to devote to the pigeon as he/she would expect from a partner/mate, and if you are able to do so, then it is just fine 😄 Again, thank you very much for your elaborate and informative video (which is just PERFECT referral material)

Lovely story! My doves got along so well as a pair that I felt like the 3rd wheel. I sold them to a woman who didn't mind dealing with the eggs and squabs. If I ever get a pigeon, it'll definitely be my one and only. I wish it would have been like you and your pigeon. Don't like to feel left out and like they don't need me or love me.

I also need to add how glad I am to see you to be so extremely responsible with your pet and the ethics of keeping it. :) So often even well known, educated and well-meaning animal youtubers give unethical advice or have their pet(s) in borderline-unjust conditions. You set a very good example <3

love love love this whole video i currently have, umm, 6 pigeons (plus a feral who is in a crate recovering from a badly broken leg). there was definitely a shift in dynamics as each new pigeon arrived - they have all been found as babies and hand raised and have underlying issues that made releasing them impossible. they are great company and lots of fun. i say this even after the newest pigeon (9 weeks old) decided she was now sleeping in my bedroom a couple of nights ago and woke me up by jumping on my face the last 2 mornings. and i still stress about leaving them when i go out of the house.

Gosh here I had the random thought of having a pet pigeon, and you voiced the exact reasons why I've been afraid of getting a dog (also because ducks are loud and my work necessitates a rather quiet environment), the constant drama i will be playing in my head and guilt upon leaving my pigeon just because i left for the grocery. Appreciate these vids! and hope Toby and Bonnie are doing well!

this video deserves more views!! Was so funny, I'm more excited than ever to get my first pigeons!

I love your birds so much, very informative video, I love your style of editing :) I don't have any pigeons or any kind of bird myself, but I've thought about getting one someday in the far future and all your videos have helped with my research on it. I think I would try to work with just one, and only get another if I became more outgoing and less at home.. as long as they can get along 😅

Beautiful colors . I had birds for so many years. Ended up having over 100 birds. And they are awesome pets. Mine were outside. In a pigeon loft. Eventually I had to part with them. For medical reasons. But hopefully down the road I will get back into it. Love pigeons.

I usually don’t watch random videos but this was great. Never owned a pigeon was more of a hookedbill kinda guy, but kinda want a pigeon now that my hookbill passed (old age no neglect). Appreciate you.

omg you’re bird being obsessed with you is so adorable 😩❤️