A question concerning pigeons. (1 Viewer)

I hope somebody can give me some info. Yesterday my girlfriend and I rescued a mourning dove in our backyard that was being attacked by 3-4 pigeons. When I say attacked, I mean there were chunks of feathers torn from his skin, he was bleeding, and the vet confirmed through xrays that the poor guy has a fractured wing. He couldn't be more than 2 weeks from hatching, he still has pin feathers. So for now I am a foster parent, which is no big deal because I have experience with taking care of birds. My question is, why would the pigeons attack like that. I have always considered them to be at least semi-social animals. I have several feeders on my deck, and they always seemed to intergrate well with other birds. Any info will be helpful.

Hi Zad,

Welcome to BirdForum!

A very strange observation - I've never heard or read of anything like it. The only time I've seen pigeons fight is in territorial disputes between neighbouring breeding pairs, when they will try to hit each other with their wings (no pecking or blood-letting). And they wouldn't do this with a recently fledged juvenile, which is not a threat to the territory.

Michael

Very strange indeed. Could the dove have been injured by another animal and the pigeons trying to eat it? I.e., are pigeons opportunistic carnivores?