Homing Pigeon - Sex Difference

Sex Difference

Male and female pigeons (or cocks and hens), can often be distinguished without surgery or genetic testing, by way of visual differences in characteristics as well as behavioral differences.

A pigeon fancier might be able to tell the sex of a pigeon by sight, as pigeons can be identified by a number of physical characteristics like head, beak, height and breast. Visual identification of gender by physical characteristics alone can be inaccurate. Males usually stand taller, and have a larger beaks, wattles (biologically an operculum) and eye cere (fleshy growth around the eyes), as well as a round head and thicker Nape. Females on the other hand tend to be shorter with smaller beaks, wattles and cere as well as flatter heads and fuller breasts.

Male and female pigeons also show different behaviors. The 'coo' of males is louder and more insistent, especially when courting. Display behaviour also differs between the sexes. Most notably, males often turn 360 degrees with an inflated crop and a loud 'coo', to show interest in a female or to defend or discourage another pigeon from entering its territory (usually a nesting box), while females almost never turn full circle, but rather do a 270 degees back and forth rotational motion.

Although the sexual dimorphism in homing pigeons is rather subtle most accomplished breeders of homing pigeons will easily distinguish the genders of this breed (this is not true for all breeds of domestic pigeon, for instance archangels have males and females looking almost exactly alike). Some of the confirmed differences of gender of pigeon are Thickness of nape or neck (in male) as compared to female,driving movement ( dragging of tail ) in male during courtship and 360 ' turning with head bowed down.