We Have Pigeon Eggs

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
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We’ve not seen Manny for a couple of days now, but Tammy’s still around. She’s 39 days old today (Friday). All still sleep elsewhere but return here in the daytime. Little Pidgee is still acting like she’s in labor – unless we move too close to the window, in which case she flees quickly – while Big Pidgee alternately hovers over her with attention and stands guard outside the flower box. And they’ve been lining the flower box with twigs again. I don’t know where Big Pidgee went with that one twig awhile back, but clearly if they had a new place, it did not work out. We’ve got a new flower box to replace the old but not the dirt for it yet. Looks just like the present one. Once we fill in the dirt, we’ll switch it with the present one, transferring over the twigs and making a little indentation in the dirt like is out there now.

The parents stopped feeding the squabs days ago. They seem to think it’s time for them to fend for themselves. Tammy is especially funny as she keeps squealing to be fed, flocking around Dad, who keeps trying to ignore her. Finally, he’ll literally run across the balcony to get away from here – Little Pidgee too, although Dad is clearly the favorite to bother – followed by Tammy squealing.

Tammy’s seems to be making a general nuisance of herself. Just a little while ago this morning, Tammy was the only one in the flower box. She picked up a twig in her beak, and I swear to you, Little Pidgee came running over, grabbed it away from her, hopped back into the box and set it back down where it belongs. A classic mother-child moment! I think Little Pidgee would have spanked Tammy if she’d had hands.

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I love these adventures!

What a change from when you started this thread, and didn’t want them anywhere near your balcony, especially long term! Now they’ve got you wrapped around their little feathers. Hehehe

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Yes, they’ve definitely grown on us. :slight_smile:

Not that we could get rid of them anyway.

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Well, the Lost Weekend seems to be over, although I’m not sure what this “temporary server” business is all about. Hopefully, the posts from here on out will stick.

As reported over the Lost Weekend, Little Pidgee laid a fresh egg on Saturday. Yay! The latest news is that she laid the second one yesterday (Tuesday), so they came three days apart this time. I knew an egg was coming yesterday, because there was a renewed flurry of nest-building by both parents. Big Pidgee kept flying off and returning with twigs in rapid succession.

Manny and Tammy have left us. :frowning: The last time we saw Tammy was last Friday, at age 39 days. Except for a very brief appearance on Monday, Manny was last seen on Saturday, at age 41 days and before Little Pidgee laid her fresh egg. He was trying hard to get both parents to feed him, but in an act of “tough love,” they ignored him, clearly wanting him to go off and find his own food.

The first batch left at 50 and 51 days, the second one at 39 and 41 days. Maybe it was because we tried petting the second batch, or maybe the first batch really was the first one for the parents, who learned to kick the kids out quickly (Blackie and Snowy really were making nuisances of themselves to their parents.)

So we’ll have fresh squabs in a couple of weeks or so. :slight_smile:

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I love reading these adventures! Do you have potential names picked out for the next squabs? What about a naming contest? What about bribery?

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Funds are always gladly accepted. :smiley: But the wife is thinking of Chilli and Pepper for the third batch. I think that’s a little too cutesy myself. I like Pepper but may try to use Sammy for the other one. (She’s named the first two batches, so it’s my turn anyway.)

Three days on from the last cleaning, and the balcony remains CLEAN. I guess this is because the squabs have left and the parents just stay in the flower box all the time now.

The wife and her sister prepared the new flower box with soil and even a slight indentation in the dirt at one end, to match the present one. Tonight, we’ll switch them out.

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So we switched out the flower box last night (Wednesday night). Looks exactly the same as the old one, just cleaner. The wife and her sister even made a little indentation on one end like the pigeons had made themselves in the old one.

Poor Little Pidgee, though. I really freaked her out. I figured she would move to the rail when I started moving the box over. She did, but then kept on going. Flew off, in the dark! From what we can tell, pigeons hate flying at night. She went straight up, though, and when I looked, I thought I could see her two balconies above on the edge. So I quickly transferred the eggs and all of the twigs they’d been putting in, and we threw the old flower box out in the building’s trash. Little Pidgee came back down eventually and settled in.

So now we’re back to the old shifts. Little Pidgee sitting on the eggs at night, Big Pidgee during the day (Big Pidgee’s shift is actually only about 11am-4:30pm). I noticed Big Pidgee rearranging some of the twigs today; guess I didn’t set them up just right.

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I finally got around to uploading some photos from last month. Below are the final shots of Manny and Tammy, who have since ventured out into the world.

Here is Tammy at age 27 days on August 17. That’s Manny in the background.

This is Manny (on the right) the same day, age 28 days. He’s almost a carbon copy of his mother. All that’s missing is the white “moustache.”

Here is one of the squabs taking a bath on August 19, at ages 30 and 29 days. I had to shoot this through the screen, because if I’d opened the screen, that would have scared them away. It certainly would have scared Big Pidgee away, who is serving as lifeguard in this shot.

This one shows something Manny was especially fond of doing while taking a bath. He would lie down on one side and stretch the opposite wing WAY out, making it look like he was engaging in synchronized swimming. He’d stay in this position for several minutes.

Here is Manny and father above, Tammy below, on August 20.

And a last bath one here, with Manny splashing around, ages 37 and 36 days on August 26, just a few days before they finally left us.

In more current news, Big Pidgee has been fetching a lot of twigs for the nest in the new flower box. They’re really piling up in there.

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Not much happening on the pigeon front this past week. The second batch of squabs are definitely gone. Big and Little Pidgee have reverted to their old shifts on the new eggs. We expect them to start hatching about the middle of next week.

Big Pidgee chased a stranger pigeon away the other day. He was pretty cool about it. No violent flapping of wings; he simply followed the pigeon like a shadow, sort of pushing it along. Very low key.

It’s four months now since we returned home from the North and found them on the balcony.

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And we have a new squab! :smiley: Sammy hatched out this morning (Wednesday morning). Assuming this is the first egg that was laid, it took 18 days. This probably was the first egg, because the other one was laid only 15 days ago, and our understanding is it takes 17-19 days to hatch.

But we’ve not actually seen little Sammy yet. Little Pidgee was doing a very good job of keeping him covered up this time. But we did see some of the broken eggshell next to her.

The Switch occurred earlier than usual today, before 9:40, when it usually comes around 10:30. Big Pidgee must have known something was up. But I missed the Switch, and so did not get to see Sammy then. The last time it seemed like we saw the squab better on the first day, as you can see if you go back into the photos. I’m wondering if we made the indentation in the dirt of the new box a little too deep, allowing them to cover the squab more efficiently. Good for them I guess, but not for our viewing pleasure. We’ll see them soon enough, though. Big Pidgee keeps shifting around like something may be squirming beneath him.

Also, Little Pidgee recently got into the habit of flying straight up out of the flower box once Big Pidgee showed up for the Switch, instead of hopping out and then flying off from the edge of our balcony. Today post-Switch, I see the larger half of the eggshell lying over in the dirt of one of the potted trees, so I guess she must have knocked it over there when she flew straight out.

Once again, we’re assigning genders, male for the first one, female the second once she hatches. That one will be named Pepper. The wife suggested using Salt and Pepper or Chilli and Pepper, but I thought that a little too cutesy, so for this batch it’s Sammy and Pepper.

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Looking forward to more PigeonPics! Thanks for the update!

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Something that I have really enjoyed through this thread is watching you go from not really knowing a thing about pigeons to becoming experts on them!

You know all about their breeding behaviours, how soon they lay eggs/how many, when they hatch and fledge…

Looking forward to more pictures! :slight_smile:

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Plus, we’re increasing the world’s pigeon population. BWAA-HAHAHAHAHA! Take THAT, Mankind. :smiley:

The wife saw the Switch late yesterday afternoon (Wednesday afternoon) and so saw Sammy. I barely caught the Switch this morning and so caught a glimpse of Sammy’s furry little yellow butt. That’s all we’ve seen so far. They’re really keeping him covered up better this time. Sometins, a parent’s feathers will be moving of their own accord, and it’s the squab trying to get out. Didn’t have a chance to see the other egg this morning, but I don’t think it’s hatched yet. Probably not before tomorrow.

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YAY! I was wondering when we’d get new pidgees. Welcome to the world, Sammy!

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And we have the second squab! Pepper hatched out this morning (Friday morning). :slight_smile:

Both squabs are doing well. I can see them both better. Little yellow fur balls. Sammy, at two days old, is becoming a handful for the parents. He seems to like moving around.

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Pidgee drama! Big Pidgee heroically defended the squabs this morning (Saturday morning). A strange pigeon landed and he chased it away, then it returned with another, presumably it’s mate. Big Pidgee crouched down and settled himself over the squabs, giving the strangers the evil eye while hunkering down. The stranger pigeons started checking the balcony out, then Big Pidgee hopped out and chased them away. They flew to the top rail of the balcony, and Big Pidgee followed them, chasing them away for good. Go Big Pidgee!

This gave us a brief opportunity to take a good look at Sammy and Pepper uncovered. They’re 3 days and 1 day now. The two days’ difference in ages makes a big difference in size right now. Pepper is so much smaller than Sammy, really tiny. They’re both very wiggly and keep poking out from underneath the parents.

I’ll miss them for a few days next week while I’m in for shoulder surgery. They’ll have really grown when I see them again. I suspect by the time I return home, Little Pidgee will be leaving them alone at night.

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Okay, I’ll leave you with some photos until I return in a few days.

This one was taken on September 4. It’s Little pidgee sitting on the eggs in the new flower box. (Apologies for the dirty window.) And here is a shot of the eggs later that morning. Little Pidgee either couldn’t wait around for the Switch and so left early (she does that sometimes) or maybe just flew out for a quick snack; can’t remember which.

Here is Big Pidgee guarding the eggs in the new flower box on September 5. Notice how CLEAN it looks.

And now for two weeks later, this past Friday. This is the day Pepper hatched, but in this photo, we see Big Pidgee and a 2-day-old Sammy peeking out; Pepper is still hidden somewhere underneath the father. Here is a closer view view of Father and Sammy. You can see a little white spot on the tip of Sammy’s beak. That’s been common for all of our squabs so far; they outgrow it eventually.

The rest from here on out are all from today (Sunday). This morning, Little Pidgee picked up the large portion of Pepper’s eggshell and flew off with it – it must have been getting in her way – so I took the opportunity to take these photos. (She did return eventually.) Here we have 2-day-old Pepper in front and 4-day-old Sammy in the ear. Notice the reddish coloring in Pepper’s yellow fur. That’s not the camera screwing up; she really is a reddish-yellow.

Pepper and Sammy from a different angle in this one. Sammy’s little wings are especially cute here. It looks like someone pasted them on, like those fairy wings wings little girls run around wearing. And Pepper on the left has a cute little butt.

Pepper and Sammy again here and here. In the latter photo, what looks like Pepper’s little eye is actually an earhole. Her eye is that larger, roundish black lump by the earhole. Sammy opened his eyes yesterday at three days, so we expect Pepper to open hers tomorrow.

And one more, this one of Big Pidgee and Pepper, after the Switch. Sammy’s back underneath Big Pidgee somewhere.

And all of these photos can be found on one page here in the new folder we’ve started for this batch.

My wife practically swoons over Big Pidgee now. He seems to be the perfect mate, and he’s clearly a better parent, although Little Pidgee does pull her weight, too. But Big Pidgee never gets tired of waiting for Little Pidgee to show up, never takes off early. He’s noticeably more affectionate to Little Pidgee than vice versa. He stands guard in military fashion over Little Pidgee while she’s in the process of laying her eggs. It’s too early to tell yet with this batch, but so far the first two batches have clearly preferred the father over the mother. Although Little Pidgee also feeds the squabs, he seems to do most of the feeding himself. And he has a record of chasing away strange pigeons he doesn’t want around the squabs. I don’t mean to dump on Little Pidgee – she’s very cute and actually looks rather feminine; we can see why Big pidgee would go for her – but Big Pidgee is definitely Da Man.

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Well, no sooner did I write that but what happens? Big Pidgee takes off early! Little Pidgee seemed surprised not to find him here when she showed up. He did stop by for some water later.

Of course, we took that opportunity to give the squabs a little pet. Soft! They seemed to take it in stride and not freak out or freeze up. Maybe a little too young to understand the potential danger?

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You need to have a naming contest for the next set of squabs!

Thanks for keeping us updated!

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The squabs grew a lot in the course of the four days I spent in the hospital for my shoulder surgery. Returned home yesterday (Friday) to find Sammy BIG. He was nine days old, and about that time they start looking a little Orson Welles-ish, with a disproportionately large chest and body. No worries, the whole pigeon soon takes on normal proportions once it grows a little more. Today (Saturday), they’re 8 and 10 days old. The first hints of normal color are coming in, and it looks like both will end up with some white.

You’ll be amused to know that in the absence of a TV in my hospital room, the wife and I were kept amused by a pigeon couple continuously having sex on the same spot of a ledge of a building across the way. I doubt anyone else noticed them, but we’re definitely more tuned into pigeons now.