# Pigeon Family Life **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 10, 2004, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pigeon-family-life/249634 "2004-06-10T13:55:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![tiny\_ham](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a183cd/32.png) [@tiny\_ham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tiny_ham)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2004, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pigeon-family-life/249634/1 "2004-06-10T13:55:05Z")
I love pigeons, and I’m understandbly quite excited that a nice pigeon couple (I’ve named them Marianne and Vic Farino) have decided to move into my window sill. It’s a wide sill in the corner of the building, sheilded from wind and rain, a perfect place. But this blessed event has lead to some questions. 1. Are pigeons monogamous? It seems that the male is working on building the nest every day, but he’s not really “Around”. 2. When I first saw them there, there were just two eggs on the ledge with them and like, four sticks. By the afternoon the nest was woven with leaves and sticks and everything. Do birds only build nests when they’re in immediate need of one? And how do they know that they’re going to be needing one soon? 3. Do the females have food brought to them in the nest? Because she is ALWAYS there, always, all through the night and day (I’m assuming she just poops there too) I can’t wait to see these eggs hatch! Baby pigeons! ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2004, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pigeon-family-life/249634/2 "2004-06-10T15:45:58Z")
> [@jarbabyj](#): > > 1. Are pigeons monogamous? They do tend to be monogamous ( a lot of birds are, really - more or less ), at least in a given season, in which a single pair will often raise multiple clutches. > [@](#): > > It seems that the male is working on building the nest every day, but he’s not really “Around”. Usually the male brings the nesting material, which the female then arranges. > [@](#): > > 1. When I first saw them there, there were just two eggs on the ledge with them and like, four sticks. By the afternoon the nest was woven with leaves and sticks and everything. Do birds only build nests when they’re in immediate need of one? And how do they know that they’re going to be needing one soon? Two eggs is standard for pigeons. Most birds build the nest in advance ( for obvious reasons ), but as pigeons are cliff dwellers they have a bit more leeway and are a little more haphazard. So yeah, they tend to do it at the last minute. As to how they know, I’m not sure what the exact physiological cue is that triggers the behavior, but it certainly isn’t an intellectual decision :). > [@](#): > > 1. Do the females have food brought to them in the nest? Because she is ALWAYS there, always, all through the night and day (I’m assuming she just poops there too) That’s unusual. My understanding is that the male and female switch off, with the female taking a longer shift. Maybe you’ve just missed the male. One of the unusual features of the columbidae ( pigeons and doves ) is that instead of feeding their babies bugs and the like, they instead produce “crop milk” to feed them - a kind of thick, high protein, milky substance made in the crop at the bottom of the throat. - Tamerlane ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2004, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pigeon-family-life/249634/3 "2004-06-10T15:57:53Z")
According to one domestic pigeon (_Columba livia_) [breeding page](http://www.angelfire.com/ga3/pigeongenetics/BASICPIGEONINFO.html): > [@](#): > > Both male and female take part in the incubation and rearing of the young. Females lay their first egg about 10 days after mating, usually in the late afternoon or early evening. A second egg is laid about 44 hours later. Two eggs is the normal clutch size. Incubation commences with the laying of the second egg. The male (cock) bird usually broods from about 10 a.m. until 5 p.m., the female (hen) the rest of the time. Hatching normally occurs 18 days from start of incubation. Youngsters are fed by both parents – and here is where pigeons/doves are unique. The parents need not even leave the nest to hunt down insects, etc., as do many other genera or species. Instead, they feed their young on a glandular crop secretion called “pigeon milk”. It is not actually milk, and there is no lactose in it, but its production is stimulated by prolactin, the same hormone which stimulates milk production in mammals. Pigeon milk looks more like a cream-colored cottage cheese and is a high protein food which is fed to the youngsters from hatching till about ten days old when regurgitated grain and grit replace it as the major food source. Domestic pigeons usually have a seamless aluminum identity band placed on their leg at about ten days of age. This band is coded with year of hatch, club identification and a number. Youngsters fledge at about 35 days. However, when the young are about eighteen days old, the parents will often commence to renest. It is not uncommon for one round of youngsters to be fledging at the same time that next are hatching. ---
**Author:** ![tiny\_ham](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a183cd/32.png) [@tiny\_ham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tiny_ham)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2004, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pigeon-family-life/249634/4 "2004-06-10T16:08:58Z")
Oh, so I probably miss the male sitting there because he’s around during bank hours 😃 18 days only?! I’m excited to see the little fellas. Thanks for the info! ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2004, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pigeon-family-life/249634/5 "2004-06-10T21:28:03Z")
I’ve had pigeons nest on my balcony twice. On one occasion there was a male and two females. And from what I saw of the “courtship” in both cases, let’s say it’s just as well you missed it. ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2004, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pigeon-family-life/249634/6 "2004-06-10T21:42:19Z")
I had a pigeon couple nest on my balconey a couple of years ago. They had the 2 eggs, both hatched but only one of the birds - Howie - actually made it to adulthood. He was totally comfortable with me going out there, but one day I let my bunny, Benny, hop around on the balconey and he (the bunny) scared the crap out of the bird. Howie left, never to be seen again. I had another bird nest in a planter, but both of those babies died. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Ca3799](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9f8e36/32.png) [@Ca3799](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ca3799)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2004, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pigeon-family-life/249634/7 "2004-06-10T22:54:54Z")
I had some pigeons on my sill once, also. Maybe they were exceptions, but they made a shockingly shoddy nest which was usually not very clean. The kids survived it, though.