Introducing a new pigeon

Question
I have hand raised a female feral pigeon who is now about 9 months old. She is well tamed, and she is an indoor pet. I recently found another young feral pigeon, a female, that I would like to keep as a companion for my pigeon. My pigeon having grown up with me, is very attached to me, and hasn't been socialized with other birds. The young pigeon I want to introduce is for now in a month quarantine on my outside porch (it turned out that she was infested with long lice, and I am in the process of treating her for those). a fecal test came back negative. They can see each other through the window though. anyhow, I am not sure on what would be the best way to introduce the two birds. I am not even sure my pigeon will accept a bird companion. My rational behind this is to have my bird bond with some other being than me, so if I have to go out of town for a while, she won't be to disorientated. And also, I would like her to be able to spend time outdoor in an aviary. as of now, she is very fearfully of being outdoor. She is OK if I stay with her, but totally panics as soon as a try to leave. The other pigeon is young, she is not cooing yet, but can fly. When i found her her on the ground, she was just a few days off from being able to properly fly. She get very animated when she sees my pigeon, like she want to get to her. my pigeon on the other hand, does seldom pay any attention to her. Please let me know. Best regards


Answer
Martine

It is great that you decided to keep pigeons as pets. They are truly interesting and remarkably different from any other pet birds.

Anyways, it seems that you have a good grasp on bird care and you seem to love your pet. I don't think that you will have any problem introducing your new bird to her, as wild and captive pigeons live in flocks. The best pair to get would probably be a female and a male, as they will become partners and will "love" each other (yes, it is possible) and therefore never fight. The second best pair to get is two females, as they are not aggressive (well, not as much as two males would be to each other) but they still will give each other a good peck on the head once in a while to assert their dominance. But not to worry, this is natural and happens all the time in wild and captive flocks. All birds that live in groups have to have a pecking order in which the most dominant bird picks on everyone, the second most dominant picks on everyone other than the most dominant, and so on. If I were you, after your new bird is through with her quarantine, I would place both birds in the aviary or a large cage and watch them closely. Don't put them inside the house freeflying as the new bird may become scared and fly into a window or otherwise hurt herself. Most likely one will coo and perhaps peck the other on the head, but then they will ignore each other. Just watch them for half an hour, and if you have any concerns, then seperate them and try again the next day. Your birds seems to be a bit spoiled (which is not a bad thing with a tame indoor pet, so please don't take offence, it's just that I own a few large flocks of outdoor pigeons, so they don't become attatched to me) which means that she may not take to strangers as readily as a wild or captive outdoor pigeon would who has been around other pigeons their whole lives. Hopefully the new friend will take her mind off of you for a while, and when you leave them alone in the aviary for the first time, don't actually leave, but rather just hide around a corner out of site. Whatever your pigeon does, whether it be flying around the cage in panic or cooing for you, don't return to her. You will just be teaching her that her bad behaviour gets a reward (your company). She will soon calm down. You can bring her inside and play with her still, but it is possible that because she has a friend and is starting to act like a real wild pigeon that she may not be as attatched to you. Don't be sad or alarmed, it's just the way things are. I hope not for your sake though.

Well, I wish you good luck in the introduction and aviary flying, and I hope your birds bring you much more pleasure to come.