How to distinguish the pigeons of a boy from a girl. How to find out the gender of a pigeon: different methods of determining. The structure of the beak and head

If you are just starting to learn the science of pigeon breeding, for sure sometimes there is a need for help. In our article we will talk about effective ways determining the sex of birds, as well as how to distinguish a pigeon from a dove using the methods of experienced pigeon breeders.

The proposed material contains information on how to determine the gender of a pigeon. We have collected the most interesting, simple and tried by many breeders methods. Not without folk methods, which, by the way, almost never fail.

Bird appearance

The male is always larger than the female if he is healthy. However, there are exceptions, especially for decorative or foreign breeds. In them, it is the males that can look more fragile and graceful. An example of a breed where the male is smaller is the Chinese gull.

Difference in the pelvic bones

Probe under the breast of the pigeon, near the tail itself. Females are distinguished by a wider distance between the pelvic bones. However, for nulliparous pigeons, this method is not recommended, since it may not be entirely objective.

Bird behavior during the mating season

Males are always more active. They spread their tail and protrude their goiter, actively pursuing the dove. But when the female is brought up to the gentleman, she behaves modestly. Moves forward, slightly falling on the tail and cooing. And if a lady has accepted the courting of a gentleman, she puffs up her lumbar feathers and bends low.

Militancy

The method will effectively tell if there are two males in the cage. In 90% of cases, males start a fight with each other, trying to find out who is stronger and reclaim territory. But two ladies will definitely not share power, they will behave peacefully and may even start to coo, that is, communicate.

Head and beak shape

In pigeons, the head is always smaller, the bridge of the nose and the base of the beak are narrow, and the eyes are always more expressive, convex in shape. The neck is usually thinner in the female. Often a large, rounded head with a wider frontal bone and the same back of the head indicates that a male is in front of you.

By color (autosex line method)

You can also determine who is in front of you by color. The autosex method is quite reliable. For example, in the Pioneer Texan breed, the color of the female will always be darker than the color of the pigeon. This method is used by experienced breeders who are familiar with the characteristics of the breeds.

By voice

Method from the category "50 to 50". Experienced breeders claim that females "lisp" and their voice is more gentle. Males, on the other hand, make sounds much clearer and sharper. In principle, there is a very large grain of truth in this. Like any other creature on earth, the male pigeon is always more aggressive, persistent, his voice, accordingly, should be rougher.

As you can see, there are many ways, and to learn how to distinguish a male from a female, you just need to use the advice in practice. After several generations of pigeons bred, understanding will come by itself. Despite the small errors, the above methods for determining sex are very effective!

Video "Determine the gender of a pigeon"

An effective technique in order to find out which gender of the bird you are holding in your hands. The technique involves the use of a copper pendulum.

How to distinguish a dove from a dove externally? Exist certain signs by which it can be done. But first, we will tell you a little about the named representative of the birds.

Dove: description

The dove is the bird of the world. However, not everyone knows that there are a large number of its species and breeds. There are also many fans of these incredible birds who are engaged in breeding them.

The domestication of pigeons began centuries ago. But until now, breeders are very fond of breeding these birds. And breeders dream of acquiring the most beautiful and incredible breeds.

Groups of pigeons

There are 4 groups into which these birds are divided:

Decorative. Most beautiful. They look expressive, bright, have a variety of forms of plumage and color.
Flight. They are distinguished by their ability to fly - they can cover quite large distances and fly quite high. People who breed pigeons are trying to improve the endurance and strength of the breed.
Postage. One of the oldest breeds, now they are called sports. They have a large beak. In ancient times, this breed was crossed with seagulls.
Meat. Also a fairly old breed. Large, with long necks and short wings.

Let's take a closer look at each species and find out which breeds belong to them.
Let's talk about the wild ones first. These include:

Dove Named so because of its color. Lives in the countries of Europe, Africa and Asia. Similar in color to the rock dove. However, it differs in the color of the tail.
Rocky. The color of the tail is lighter than that of gray. Lives in Korea, Altai and Tibet, prefers highlands.
Klintukh. They are blue in color, but the feathers on the neck take on a green tint. There are black stripes on the tail, while the breast glows red. Lives in Russia and Turkey, mainly in warm climates. Fly away from cold areas during the winter. They settle in hollows of trees, often live in parks and forests.
Vyakhir. This breed is large in size and a tail up to 15 cm in length. It differs in a bluish tinge of plumage, with the exception of the breast - it is more green. These pigeons live mainly in Europe and Asia. Nests are built in forest areas. Adapted to changes in temperature, very hardy.
Crowned. They live in New Guinea, preferring a tropical climate. The legs are longer than those of other breeds. Very small in size, on the head they have a tuft that resembles a crown.

Meat pigeons

This species is grown for meat, which is superior in properties to chicken. It is full of nutrients and contains more protein. In addition, pigeons grow faster and require little maintenance. Meat includes:

King. Very fleshy, strong skeleton. The breed is not adapted for flying. The plumage color is brown, white or black.
Modena. They are large in size. They practically do not fly due to their high weight.
Carnot. They gain weight very quickly. They have dark shades of color.
Roman. Meat is rich in nutrients, grows quickly at home and is more resistant to disease.

Flight

These pigeons lend themselves well to training, have the ability to fly for a long time without getting tired. Some of them were once used as postal ones. Flight includes:

The breed is Nikolaevskaya. These birds differ in the manner of flight - they fly vertically in a straight line, rise very high. They have a strong body and a small neck.
Berlin Short-billed Tumbler. It has a small size and a short beak, the forehead is very convex, the wings hang down below the tail. The breed is very numerous. They have a monochromatic or variegated color.
German monk. They fly not very high, during the flight they lure other birds. At the back of the head they have a feather hood.
Berlin long-billed. A very rare species. It has unusual appearance- the vertical position of the neck and the horizontal position of the head, which is very narrow, also have a thin beak.

Decorative

Have unusual appearance... Such pigeons are often used in various performances:

Barb. The growths around the eyes are their feature. Short beak and prominent forehead. The color is mainly monochromatic.
Brenensky blower. Characterized by a straight posture and a slender body (as if tied with a belt). They have a too swollen goiter, and walk exclusively on their fingers.
Saxon priest. The breed is characterized by long feathers on the legs, and on the head there are two tufts at once. Regardless of the color, the forehead must be white.

Peacock. The very main feature of which is a wide tail and lush feathers. That is why their tail looks like a peacock. They are often white. Although there are other shades. Very often, this particular breed is used in circus shows or at any celebrations.

Sports (postage)

They have the ability to travel long distances, and they must return back. Now this breed is used in special competitions. This breed is easily oriented in space. This is inherited from them. The Belgian one belongs to the postage. The breed has a short tail and wide chest. These characteristics affect their speed, which is very good and breaks records among pigeons. Their plumage is very smooth and pleasant to the touch.

The size

How to distinguish a dove from a dove? A pair of pigeons persists throughout their life. Therefore, the birds nearby are likely to be heterosexual. So how to distinguish a dove from a dove externally?

There are several ways. Pay attention to the size. The female is smaller than the male, but this character is not very significant. In addition, this can only be determined when a pair of pigeons is nearby. In addition, in some breeds, the female, on the contrary, is larger.

By the difference in body parts and color

The dove's neck is thinner and the head is smaller. The male, on the other hand, has a massive neck, a wide back of the head and a round forehead. But his eyes are smaller and less expressive.

It is very difficult to distinguish pigeons by color. Although if a couple is nearby, then, looking closely, you can see that the dove is darker than the dove.

How to distinguish a dove from a dove by behavior?

Pigeons form pairs for life. Reproduction in these birds occurs from spring to autumn, at this time the difference between a pigeon and a dove is very significant. The activity of one bird in relation to another immediately betrays a male. He inflates his chest, feathers and tail. Dovewing tries to appear indifferent.

The male rotates around the axis, presses the tail to the ground, raises his head high, arch his neck. He often makes cooing sounds.

What is the difference between a dove and a dove? The sound of the voices of males and females is also different. The pigeon has a rougher and rumbling voice, while the female, on the contrary, has a high, gentle voice.

If there are two males nearby, then, most likely, they will begin to fight, flap their wings, and demonstrate belligerence. Two doves on the same territory exist peacefully and even communicate, well, or simply do not pay attention to each other.

The structure of the pelvic bones

How to distinguish between a dove and a dove? Pay attention to the structure of the pelvic bones.
First you need to find the bones closer to the tail. In males, there is practically no distance between them, while in females there is a significant gap. However, this method is not always reliable. Since, for some reason, the male may also have a gap, and the absence of it in the female is an indicator that she has not laid eggs yet.

How to determine if a dove or a dove is in front of you? You can also try to communicate with the bird yourself. The male will most likely try to bite if you reach out, while the female will be more peaceful.

The question of determining the sex of pigeons is one of the most important, because when you buy birds, you need to correctly determine their sex so as not to buy two males instead of a pair.
The difficulty here is that pigeons do not have a clearly expressed sexual dimorphism. That is, the dove differs little from the dove in appearance. Because of this, mistakes in gender determination are so common. An autopsy only gives a 100% guarantee, but in our case this method is unacceptable. ;) You can guarantee the sex determination of the dove if she sits in a separate cage, and you find an egg in this cage in the morning. But this is when the bird is already with you, and if you are just going to buy it?
So how do you tell the difference? Let's consider several options.

The old grandfather's way of "pull the bird by the beak" causes nothing but a smile in me. It's funny to watch how serious guys in the market pull pigeons by the beaks. It is believed that the dove will behave calmly, and the dove will start to break free. In fact, only the temperament of a pigeon and the degree of its tameness can be roughly determined. To some extent, this method works, since usually males are more temperamental. However, I would not trust this method.
While preparing to write this post, I decided to experiment on my pigeons, what if I was wrong and this is just my prejudices? I started with the Rostov swans. I grabbed the dove's beak without any problems and pulled. I repeated the experiment several times. But I could not take the dove by the beak, she twisted like an eel. Considering that Rostov's beak is not too long, I did not manage to confidently capture it. Then I caught a stately Voronezh. Ardent pigeon, active. It only twisted when it hung on its beak. So that's all bullshit.

You can tell a pigeon from a dove by behavior. If a pigeon is lonely and a dove is planted for him, he begins to rage at her: after a short cooing, there is a long "guuuu", in which the pigeon stands upright, strongly inflating the goiter. At the same time, he spreads his tail wide and sweeps the ground with it. Sometimes after that, the pigeon makes a sharp jump to the dove, as if jumping on it. If, however, a lonely dove is shown a dove that starts cooing, she "swims" under him - first nods her head, then slightly lowers her wings, ruffles the feathers on her lower back and starts proudly mincing around, and sometimes crouches, inflates her goiter, spreads her tail wide and, sweeping its tail along the ground, it rushes at the pigeon, in some cases “butting” it at the same time.
However, you can be wrong here. Once I watched as my dove yelled after her dove in the manner of a male. This is rare, but still.
Much more often you can mistake an inactive pigeon for a dove. In a market where some birds feel uncomfortable, such a mistake may well occur. The behavior of doves described above is so clearly manifested only in a calm environment, but in the market a dove can only slightly indicate that she likes a cooing pigeon, nodding to him. However, a pigeon can also nod to a pigeon, only its nods are sharper. Most often, he still twitches the tip of the wing slightly at the same time. He seems to say, "Leave me alone, otherwise I'll give it to the forehead." Indeed, in fights, pigeons beat each other with their wings, and such a twitch of the wing is like a demonstration of such an opportunity. But, if the dove does not like this pigeon, or if she is in a pair, she will also react negatively to him.

You can distinguish a dove from a dove by cooing - doves have a voice with a lard. However, this is an individual symptom and this method does not always work. I have a Russian postal dove (Parrot) now. Roars like a locomotive. I even thought at first that pasporty made a mistake, and this is a dove, but she somehow laid an egg (see the title of the post)

You can distinguish a pigeon from a pigeon "for a fight", which some pigeon breeders use on the market, planting a pigeon to the male, the sex of which must be determined. However, here, too, much depends on the temperament, and on the breed of the pigeon being determined. Some doves are so fighting that they themselves pounce on a stranger.
I somehow lost my dove torkut. I found it on the market. The seller was sure it was a dove. I perfectly understand why he decided so - all the pigeons huddled against the walls of the cage, and she stood in the center with a gloomy look, and as soon as someone relaxed, the torkutiha pounced on him and "built" to the fullest. ;)

A good way to determine the sex of pigeons by the pelvic bones. If you take a pigeon in your hands, you can easily feel the keel on the chest, moving your hand further, fall on the belly, and even further, almost at the tail, you will feel two bones, as if "floating out" from the depths. These are the pelvic bones. In males, they are located close, sometimes almost touching, and in pigeons, the distance between them is not less than the length of the phalanx of the finger. But here, too, there is a high probability of error. In young, never bred pigeons, the pelvic bones can be drawn together, and in pigeons of a loose constitution or lacking calcium in childhood (rickets), the pelvic bones can be very widely divorced.

Most often, experienced pigeon breeders determine the sex of pigeons by appearance, examining the bird's head in profile. Males are usually more lobasty, they have a thicker and more massive beak, larger wax and coarser eyelids. And in general, males are more masculine, and doves are more feminine. However, the breed of pigeons plays a huge role here. It is clear that a Chinese seagull dove will look more feminine and delicate than a Russian or German postal dove. And some breeds have their own subtleties, which become visible only with prolonged communication with them. The age of the bird also leaves its mark on this matter - an old dove may have a coarser eyelid and waxen than a young male.
However, if the pigeon being bought is too feminine, and the dove, on the contrary, is in the male type, it is better to refuse to buy such birds, in the future it may be difficult to obtain chicks from them. After all, the severity of the signs of an individual of the opposite sex may be associated with the hormonal problems of this bird.

So how do you tell a pigeon from a dove? WITH ONLY SIXTH SENSE.
Having applied all the above methods, take out a coin and toss it in the palm of your hand - an eagle will fall out, which means a dove, and tails - a dove.

A joke, of course. But it is from the totality of signs that one can, with more or less confidence, judge which sex the bird in question is.

In conclusion, I want to remind you that in some cases the sex of pigeons can still be determined by color. Firstly, this concerns the autosex lines of some breeds, for example, the same Texan pioneer, in which the pigeons are always darker in color than the pigeons. Secondly, if you know for sure the origin of the pigeons, then you can judge the field of the pigeon if we are dealing with signs linked to the sex, for example, if the pigeon is red in a pair, and the pigeon is red or yellow, then all the chicks of this pair that have yellow suit will necessarily be doves. You can learn more about this from the posts on pigeon genetics.

The dependence of the color of the offspring on the sex-linked traits.
Pair: dove, red dove.

Their chicks: a red pigeon and a gray speckled pigeon

In pigeons, secondary sexual characteristics are less pronounced than in any other species of bird. To determine the sex of these birds in science are used different methods: by the structure and shape of the body, behavior, voice characteristics, by the color of the feathers. There are also folk ways to establish the sex of pigeons, often of questionable effectiveness, but many breeders continue to use them to this day.

By body structure

The first and most obvious difference between a pigeon and a dove is size. The male is larger than the female, but there are nuances. This rule does not work in the case of decorative varieties; in breeds of this type, the pigeon visually looks smaller and more graceful than the dove. These breeds include the Chinese gull.

If the male has genetic abnormalities, then he may be smaller than the female.

You can determine the sex of a pigeon in the following ways:

1. Pay attention to the head. In females, the head is comparatively smaller, the eyes are more prominent and expressive, the neck is thinner.
2. For female representatives, the bridge of the nose and the base of the beak are narrower; in males, the beak is duller and thicker, the waxes are mealy and more powerful. However, this technique has significant drawbacks: individual external differences in individual pigeon breeds and age-related changes - the old female has a coarser beak than any young male.
3. The method of so-called autosex lines (determination by color) is widespread. In males, feathers are lighter than in females. The color of pigeons varies from breed to breed, so this method is more effective for experienced breeders.
4. The structure of the pelvic bone is the most infallible method. Such bones are located under the ribcage, in the caudal region. In males, the distance between them is practically absent, the bones are almost in contact. In the female, the distance is wider, approximately the length of the phalanx index finger... This method has a drawback - it does not work for females who have not yet laid eggs, or males who have had rickets (due to a lack of calcium, the pelvic bones are widely spaced).

Finding out the sex of the chicks is a little more difficult. As a rule, males are larger than females.

By behavior

By observing the behavior of birds, one can distinguish a pigeon from a dove with great accuracy. Old school breeders have a method called "pulling a pigeon by the nose" - the females behave patiently and calmly, and the males break out and become aggressive. This method has certain disadvantages: this or that reaction often testifies precisely to the temperament, and sometimes females have a more warlike character than males. The level of tameness and stress resistance of the bird plays an important role.

If two males are put in one cage, then they start a fight between themselves. This is the difference from two doves locked together: they will not fight among themselves, moreover, they may even start to coo. The heterosexual specimens begin to mate: the dove is actively caring for the dove.

During the mating season, male birds begin to behave actively. They inflate the goiter, spread the wings on the tail, and move in an upright position. During courtship, the dove hugs the dove and chases. The female's behavior is more restrained: she coos, avoids pursuit and falls on the tail. If the dove accepts courtship, she begins to dissolve her plumage, nods and bows.

But this method has its own nuances. Sometimes males are inactive, the level of aggression and peacefulness depends on the breed, and in various stressful situations, for example, in the market, the behavior of birds changes, so there is a chance to make a mistake when buying.

If you take a pigeon by both wings and lift, and then stroke the breast, then the male will squeeze his paws, unlike the female.

You should refrain from buying overly feminine pigeons or with pronounced aggressive behavior - this will complicate the further formation of pairs.

Before every novice poultry breeder who breeds birds at home, the question arises: how to distinguish a pigeon from a dove? It seems to many that only a professional with many years of experience can cope with this task, but this is not so. You need to know the basic rules for determining sex, as well as watch photos and videos in order to quickly distinguish a pigeon from a dove.

In the photo, a pigeon caring for a dove

How to determine the gender of a pigeon?

The rules for determining the sex of a pigeon were developed many centuries ago by our ancestors. Based on observations of bird behavior and external distinctive features, breeders of the past have learned to accurately distinguish between the sex of pigeons. Modern pigeon breeders know not only folk, but also scientific methods that everyone can master and use.

In the photo on the left is a male pigeon

To determine the sex of a pigeon, experienced breeders recommend using the following basic methods, namely:

In the photo, the male on the left

All of these methods help determine the sex of a pigeon, if used in combination. According to breeders, it is difficult for a beginner to determine gender, but experienced farmers do it without much difficulty.

Video on how to distinguish a dove from a dove:

How to distinguish a dove from a dove? Reviews, recommendations