EEP Crowned pigeon number 4

EEP STUDBOOK CROWNED PIGEONS
The three investigated pairs have thick perches available for years and probably their toes are
not very well able anymore to bow and to get grip on the thin perches. To determine the real
preferences perch, a much longer period of investigation is necessary.
In the experiment with substrate in Rotterdam Zoo, the results from the other three pairs could
not be proved. If more parts were covered with sand, the birds spent less time on the perches
and more time on the trunks on the ground. The time spent on the ground did not change
significantly. The hypothesis was that the birds should spend more time on the ground if more
parts were covered with mould. This might also be explained by the long relaxation time to
get used to something new.
It also turned out that if more parts were covered with sand, the crowned pigeons showed
more preening, but also more foraging, which means that they were more active. This might
also prove that the birds have a very long relaxation time.
Conclusions and recommendations
Crowned pigeons are not reproducing very well in captivity. Due to a lack of knowledge of
the ecology of crowned pigeons in the wild there is a lot of variation in husbandry in the
different institutions. For that reason it is investigated under which circumstances crowned
pigeons are kept in captivity and if they are reproducing or not.
If Burgers’ Bush is considered to be the most natural situation in captivity, it can be
concluded that a restriction in the variation in the enclosure (and in the freedom to choose for
the animals), leads to an increase in “care”-behaviour: the crowned pigeons spend more time
preening their feathers and so on. If the environment of the birds is even more restricted, the
birds also spend more time conducting metabolic behaviour. Time budget in this case is a
measure for wellbeing.
The enclosure also needs to have as many different elements as possible to enable the birds to
conduct the behaviour they want. From the project into preferences for a type of substrate it
turned out that crowned pigeons needed both sand as well as mould. They use the sand to
conduct “care”-behaviour (preening) and the mould to conduct foraging. If there is no mould
and only sand, they start preening that much, that the plumage gets damaged. By supplying
the birds with some parts of mould (preferably planted), the foraging behaviour increases, the
behaviour in time decreases and the birds are more active and also more attractive to the
visitors, and the enclosure looks more ‘natural’ to the visitors. The mould can be separated
from the sand with use of trunks. If watered regularly the maintenance of the mould does not
cost more time than the sand.
This research project mainly focused on the use of substrate and the preference for a type of
perch. Two out of six pigeons preferred a thick perch. Also changes in substrate did not result
in the expected change in behaviour. One of the major conclusions, which can be drawn from
this experiment, is that crowned pigeons are very susceptible for changes in their
environment. They are used to the daily routine of the keepers, but as soon as something
unexpected happens, like catching other birds or replacing some shrubs, they need several
days or more to behave like they did before. Also the replacement of perches or substrate
caused a lot of stress and it became necessary to wait for days before observing the birds, to
get comparable results. But this still influences the reliability of the results.
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