# Pigeon behavior **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 19, 2006, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pigeon-behavior/353290 "2006-04-19T14:12:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2006, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pigeon-behavior/353290/1 "2006-04-19T14:12:14Z")
Ok, I ask out of selfish reasons. A pigeon has laid eggs on my balcony. As an aside, the lazy-ass bird didn’t even build a nest, merely deposited the eggs in an unused flower pot on the floor of the rather small balcony. For now, she is tolerating me going out on the balcony; she quickly flies away when I go out there and keeps an eye on me from nearby. But, here’s the important part: she doesn’t dive bomb me. As long as she doesn’t, we can get along. My question is, once those eggs hatch, is she going to start dive bombing me when I go out on my balcony? I’m not willing to lose the use of my balcony while those rats with wings develop, so if momma rat is not willing to share the balcony with me, her little rat eggs are going into a rat egg omelette. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2006, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pigeon-behavior/353290/2 "2006-04-19T15:12:26Z")
I doubt she will attack you. Perhaps a greater problem will be the accumulation of pigeon droppings once the nestilings hatch out. I sometimes have pigeons nesting on my balconies here, and I can attest they can get a bit smelly. Speaking personally, unless you really really love pigeons, I would toss the eggs, get rid of the flower pot, and try to block off any potential nesting spots on the balcony. Domestic pigeons don’t typically make nests. The female will look for another place to nest, and will probably lay another clutch of eggs, so there will be little harm done. Right now I’m trying to figure out the best way to block off a favortite nesting spot on the balcony next to my living room. A male is displaying there again, and I need to make the site a bit less attractive. ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2006, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pigeon-behavior/353290/3 "2006-04-19T15:29:41Z")
Not so fond of pigeons, but my wife seems to think that I’m a monster for even considering getting rid of the eggs. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2006, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pigeon-behavior/353290/4 "2006-04-19T16:54:49Z")
Pigeon babies are fun. I just hosted one over the last few weeks. Let it hatch and you can see for yourself why you never see baby pigeons. They fledge very, very quickly. Even if you did have the most aggressive pigeon mom on Earth, the kid will be flying in a week or so. It is a remarkable little science project you got going. ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2006, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pigeon-behavior/353290/5 "2006-04-19T17:53:50Z")
> [@Paul in Saudi](#): > > Pigeon babies are fun. I just hosted one over the last few weeks. Let it hatch and you can see for yourself why you never see baby pigeons. They fledge very, very quickly. Even if you did have the most aggressive pigeon mom on Earth, the kid will be flying in a week or so. > > It is a remarkable little science project you got going. All right. I didn’t think I had the heart to toss them anyway. ---
**Author:** ![caveman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/caveman/32/7242_2.png) [@caveman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/caveman)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2006, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pigeon-behavior/353290/6 "2006-04-19T18:26:18Z")
We have a dove sitting on some eggs in an abandoned Blue Jay nest (in which we watched 3 baby Jays hatch last spring) just outside our dining room window. Can’t wait to see the hatchlings! ---
**Author:** ![ZeroZero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/f04885/32.png) [@ZeroZero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZeroZero)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2006, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pigeon-behavior/353290/7 "2006-04-19T23:36:19Z")
Look at it like this, how many people have actually seen a baby pigeon. I never have. How long does it take from hatch, till mama throws them out the nest? ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2006, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pigeon-behavior/353290/8 "2006-04-19T23:47:07Z")
I do have to warn you, baby birds are loud and incessantly squawking. Never seen a baby pigeon, but some years ago we lived in this really shabby apartment, and somehow a bird made a nest in the wall, just under our bedroom window. As in right over our heads. That was a horrible summer, let me tell you. Soon as those birds were out of the nest we filled the hole up at our own expense. ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2006, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pigeon-behavior/353290/9 "2006-04-20T01:12:38Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > I do have to warn you, baby birds are loud and incessantly squawking. Never seen a baby pigeon, but some years ago we lived in this really shabby apartment, and somehow a bird made a nest in the wall, just under our bedroom window. As in right over our heads. That was a horrible summer, let me tell you. Soon as those birds were out of the nest we filled the hole up at our own expense. Hmm. Now you’ve swung me back toward tossing them. I’m a light sleeper, and the balcony is outside my bedroom… Any chance of relocating the flower pot being used as a nest, and having momma bird actually incubate it in its new location? ---
**Author:** ![Dervorin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Dervorin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dervorin)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2006, 10:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pigeon-behavior/353290/10 "2006-04-20T10:34:39Z")
> [@Fiveyearlurker](#): > > …the lazy-ass bird didn’t even build a nest, merely deposited the eggs in an unused flower pot on the floor of the rather small balcony. > [@](#): > > Four or five twigs laid crosswise on a branch is the average pigeon’s idea of a highly complicated structure. > > - Gerald Durrell 😃 I may not have the quote exactly correct (I couldn’t find it on Google) but I know he said something along those lines in _Golden Bats and Pink Pigeons_.