Empty Nest
Well, the balcony, for the first time in two months, is finally empty of birds. Went out this morning to check on things, and found no babies–although mama bird was perched on a ledge nearby. I looked around at her field of view, and couldn’t see anything… Hopefully, she was just hanging out, and not watching over a patch of ground where the babies were marooned or something.
It was about time for the more well-developed squab to leave, but his sister (I’m guessing at gender here) still was not fully feathered out, having baby feathers all about (see photo at right); I hope they both were able to fly well enough. I couldn’t find any information on the web about whether or not they return to the nest; I guess I’ll find out. If not, then this is the last Pigeon Update.
Although I got mostly negative comments about the pigeon thing from the beginning, and even had to move the photos to a separate page at the request of friends who felt they were too ugly to keep on the main page, the separate “Pigeon Page” has been the most-visited page on my site (more than 60 hits) aside from the main pages.
those were the cutest little babies. I love pigeons. The babies won’t return but the parents will nest there again. You can remove the eggs and this is a humane way to get the message across. They always have to babies, one boy and one girl. I have a flock of pigeons on my roof in manhattan. please don’t broadcast this. I don’t see how anypone could not find them to be adorabe. they have babies all year. song birds sparrows ect. nest in the spring. not pigeons all year long. i also loved the little peeper noise. not at my bedroom window but i love the noise. i have two babies i am taking care of right now. i will release them in two weeks. any way i would love to answer any questions. i am a normal person beleive it or not. a mother yoga teacher personal trainer wife. you did the right thing in experiencing the sweetnes of nature. if you email me make sure you say pigeon person
Thanks, Kathy. It was nice having the birds out there, but they left my balcony an unholy mess by the time they left. I will say “carpet,” but not what the carpet consisted of.
The parents did indeed try to come back this year, and finally I was able to dissuade them with light netting. I am certain they have several other nesting areas.
I just discovered a pigeon chick in a box on my terrace, and I found this website while researching how long it will be until it flies it’s feathered butt outta here. Mine looks cuter than yours. More full of yellow.
I get rid the eggs and nests when I see them, but I’m going to leave this guy alone.
I use a spray bottle with hot, soapy water to clean the mess, then I rinse with buckets of hot water. There’s a drain on my terrace that I managed to unclog enough so that one bucket is drained within about 10 minutes. I’ll have to clear it better eventually.
Barbo:
If possible, spread newspaper or a disposable tarp over your balcony; by the time the chick grows up, it’s gonna be wall-to-wall droppings out there.
Thanks for posting the pix. We have just rescued a baby pigeon, having been mauled by our cat, and can now age it. We have started offering it water & food off a spoon & it is taking a litle. Does not seem to be feeding itself though in its cat box.