Parrot pigeon hybrids do not exist: parrots and pigeons are too genetically different to interbreed, and even if they mated, no offspring would result. Some pigeons, such as the pink-necked green pigeon, look a little like tropical parrots, but the similarity is only visual. The same applies to the chicken pigeon hybrid and the seagull pigeon hybrid.
What About Online Pictures Of The Parrot Pigeon Hybrid?
A quick search will reveal numerous pictures of supposedly parrot pigeon hybrids.
In the cases that have been checked, they turned out to be domestic pigeons that had been dyed, which can harm the birds.
This is not the first time that pigeons have been dyed. It seems it has happened quite a lot over the course of recorded history.
As recently as December 2021, the Daily Express reported on a pigeon – dubbed Penelope (opens in new tab) after the character in Thunderbirds – that had been dyed pink and was wandering the streets in Solihull.
Another example of a so-called parrot pigeon hybrid (opens in new tab) occurred in Queens, New York in 2014.
In other cases some claim they dyed their pigeons so they could recognize them during races, and others so they could recognize their pigeons if they were lost.
Some claimed they bought fancy colored pigeons only to find out they were dyed once the birds molted.
Others claim that their dyed pigeons were not killed by cats.
In the end, it is unfair and cruel to the birds.
We also know that nature produces its own mutations many of which probably never come to light and then there are examples that happen serendipitously.
For example, Pinky the dove (opens in new tab) turned out to be its peachy color because it had fallen into a barrel of tile pigment powder
Aren’t Hybrids Common in the Animal Kingdom?
When some species are very closely related, they may mate and hybrid animals (opens in new tab) result, but the offspring are often sterile. The best-known example of this is the mule.
A mule is a mix of donkey and horse. Mules are almost always sterile and unable to breed.
For the sake of this article, we will call this the “Mule” offspring.
Another well-known example is the cross between a male lion and a female tiger, known as the “Liger.”
Ligers look rather like a very large lion. Male ligers are sterile, although some females have had cubs.
Some online images show white tiger and lions having very fancy offspring, but these are photo-shopped images.
The real liger creature is quite average-looking.
Despite some species being able to crossbreed to an extent, the parrot and pigeon are not closely related.
Even in their distant past, their ancestors were not related recently enough to offer up similar genetic patterns.
Birds as a whole descend from theropod dinosaurs (opens in new tab), but the lines leading to parrots and pigeons split many millions of years ago, and there is no reason to believe that the birds were interbreeding even millions of years ago.
The Parrot Pigeon Hybrid
In the bird world, many of the recorded hybrids are in the duck and goose family, the pheasant family and the finch family.
Hybrids between different parrot species are also known, but these are crosses within the parrot family.
None of them involves a pigeon.
If you see a “parrot” pigeon, then it is probably a pigeon that has been dyed. If not, it is probably a fancy pigeon. In some rarer cases, it is the parrot that looks a little like a pigeon.
Every now and again, you will see a chick online that looks similar to a pigeon, but you rarely see parrots that look like pigeons.
When you do, it is often something that bears a passing resemblance to a pigeon, such as a small African grey.
Plus, some people claim that baby and very young parrots look very similar to baby pigeons, though it seems very subjective.
Where Did the Idea of a Parrot Pigeon Hybrid Start?
One is tempted to blame the various examples of people dyeing their pigeons, but the idea may also have spread from bird sanctuaries.
Budgies and other parrots, pigeons and doves, and finches are among the most common pet birds.
When people get tired of their pigeons and parrots because they are too much work, they hand them off to a sanctuary that will hopefully re-home them.
Though there are always a few troublemakers in the group, in most cases, the parrots and pigeons will get along quite fine, except for when some parrots try to bully the pigeons.
As mentioned earlier, some people think baby parrots and baby pigeons look alike, so it is easy to see how rumours start that pigeons and parrots kept together have interbred.
The other most common reason for the parrot pigeon hybrid is due to wild pigeons and wild parrots being misidentified.
When we are trained to identify different types of birds, we see pictures of them in perfect condition.
However, in the wild, the birds get dirty, disheveled, and will sometimes look a little rough.
There are some cases where wild birds are very difficult to identify because they look like they have been rolling around in an abandoned quarry.
As a result, these birds look a little like pigeons or parrots, and silly rumors of the parrot pigeon hybrid are perpetuated.
Last updated 31 October 2026 · Types