Do they keep this up year round, popping out a new pair every two months? Wow, no wonder there are so many pigeons around!
How old does a pigeon have to be before they start having laying eggs? I mean, is it likely your original pair are already grandparents?
Just like kids everywhere, dang it.
So far, that’s not happened. We were a little worried about it, because we could envision a balcony full of pigeons before too long. But so far, the latest either of the first two batches have stayed has been a week or so into the new eggs. The second batch left just before the new eggs were laid.
They’ve been keeping it up so far. Living out on our balcony since early to mid-May now, they’re now preparing for their fourth clutch of two eggs. Stays warm year-round here, so I don’t think they’ll be migrating anywhere.
We’ve been wondering about this. Wikipedia doesn’t say, and I’ve not gotten around to tracking down other sources. I would imagine the earlier squabs have found mates now and maybe are parents already, but I don’t really know. But going off with a mate would help explain why they finally do finally not return.
The parents are still staying elsewhere at night, and both squabs spent last night here again. 39 and 41 days old today (Tuesday). The parents are out there again now, hanging around the flower box and bringing in new twigs, but the squabs have flown off at least for the morning. (The squabs ended up inadvertently pushing yesterday’s twigs out of the box last night.) I did see Pepper out there earlier, still demanding to be fed, but the parents have stopped feeding the squabs.
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“The domestic pigeon normally reaches sexual maturity at about five to six months of age.” Basic Pigeon Breeding & Keeping Information
Thanks. The first batch hatched on May 29 (I’m keeping records :D), so they’re almost 5 months old now, wherever they are.
Oh, and thanks for the Pigeon Watch link. I plan to contact them by the weekend and see if they’re interested.
This morning (Wednesday morning), there was a flurry of nest-building activity. Big Pidgee kept flying out and returning with more twigs while Little Pidgee hung around. At least once while Little Pidgee was inside the flower box, Big Pidgee did his “standing guard” routine outside of it. Then the squabs, 40 and 42 days old today, returned, and the whole family has just been hanging out. The squabs still try to “swamp” the parents trying to get fed, squealing, flapping their wings, but the parents refuse to feed them now. They’re kind and civil to the squabs at other times but flee when they try to get fed, and I think they’re hoping for them to leave soon.
I think it must be time for Little Pidgee to start laying eggs again. Besides the nest building, there’s the fact that she laid the first egg of the second batch when the first batch was 34 days old; she laid the first egg of this batch when the second batch was 40 and 42 days old; now Pepper and Sammy are 40 and 42 days. It’s time.
Bird Man of Bangkhok. 
Nitpick: The second batch was 40 and 41 days old.
Pepper is pulling a Tammy, making a general nuisance of herself to her parents, demanding to be fed, hogging the flower box. I think they’re ready for her to leave. Sammy will demand feeding, too, but not as much as Pepper. Funny that after staying away so many nights, Pepper stays here again at night with Sammy. 43 and 45 days old today; will they beat the first batch’s record for staying here after hatching?
So it’s always two, and only two eggs? In other species I know the count can vary a little. That’s interesting actually. I also notice you refer to the squab pairs with male and female names. Maybe this is nature’s way of making sure that the pigeon species continues, by ensuring gender parity.
Yes, pigeons lay 2 eggs at a time.
I don’t know about the sexes though.
Yes, always two eggs. At least, that’s what the literature says, and it’s been what’s happened here each time so far. This next batch will make a total of eight eggs within six months, so there’s a lot of pigeons entering the world each year.
As for the gender, no, that’s purely arbitrary on our part. We’d probably need some sort of lab equipment to figure out the genders for real, so we’ve “assigned” the first egg to be male and the second egg to be female ourselves. For all we know, it’s been vice versa, or even all girls or all boys! 
Hot pigeon sex! Woo Hoo! Monday morning now, and yesterday afternoon we were treated to a display of pigeon carnality. Big Pidgee got himself some nookie shortly after he and Little Pidgee returned following a balcony cleaning.
Pepper also showed up for a short while in the afternoon, but no one’s stayed overnight on the balcony since the squabs slept there on Friday night. The past two nights, everyone’s been away. I did lean over the balcony and look up yesterday and am sure I saw Sammy four floors above on the edge of that balcony. Later, we saw Sammy and Pepper flying past together.
But yesterday morning, it looks like Tammy – from the second batch! – stopped by. No one else was here; she landed on the top rail, looked around a bit, then flew away. I’m certain it was her. The wife and I both saw her flying past later in the day, too.
This morning, the parents are out there rearranging twigs in the flower box. Little Pidgee’s not left the box once this morning since I awoke, not even when I opened the curtains, and Big Pidgee looks more conscientiousness when standing guard. I think eggs are coming soon.
I sent a message to Pigeon Watch on Saturday, along with links to all of the photos and even this thread, but have not heard anything back. Still the weekend there, though.
All those cute pictures of squabs, I’ll bet if you could get some photos of hot pigeon lovin’ the hits on this thread would really go up!!!
I haven’t been reading everyone’s posts completely so I might have missed someone saying this already, but a while ago, when one of the Pidgees whacked you with a wing and you thought he/she was trying to fly away? Actually, you probably were being slapped. I plugged “wing slap” into google and here is a quick first hit:
Addictive reading and fantastic pictures. Thank you for keeping us all enthralled.
The wife wants us finally to get a video camera for that. I wonder if there’d be any money in pay-per-view pigeon porn. 
But whenever it looks like they’re getting in the mood, we don’t dare move for fear of frightening them.
Thanks, a good site. I’ve gotten the pigeon slap a couple of times now: once from a squab and once or twice from Little Pidgee. I finally did decide it was being done on purpose.
Pepper showed up a couple of times yesterday (Monday) at age 45 days, but the first time Big Pidgee chased her away, and the second time Little Pidgee snapped at her to keep her away from the flower box. Poor Pepper. Clearly, the parents feel it’s time for her to leave the nest. Except for the two brief glimpses of Sammy on Sunday, we’ve not seen him since he stayed here Friday night, leaving at daybreak on Saturday at age 45 days.
More furious nest building, with Big Pidgee flying in twigs. If we’re sure the last squabs are gone for good, we’ll change the box out this week.
Saw this on the site: “… the second is laid two days after the first … Incubation takes just about 18 days from the laying of the second egg. Depending on ambient temperature, however, this may vary by a day or so either way.”
Both eggs in our first were laid before we returned home in May, so we don’t know their logistics. But they were laid on consecutive days in the second batch and two days apart in the third. The first batch both hatched on the same day, the second batch on consecutive days and the third batch two days apart.
Assuming the first one hatching was the first one laid, in the second batch the first one hatched 18 days after being laid and the second one 17 days; but that first one hatched only 16 days after the second one was laid. For the most recent batch, the first one hatched 18 days after being laid and the second one 17 days; but the first one hatched only 15 days after the second one was laid. So I question the writer’s asserion that first hatching takes place 18 days, give or take one day, after the second egg is laid. Looks to be about 18 days from actually being laid. Of course, I’m not dealing with domesticated pigeons, so that could make a slight difference. Will report on the next batch.
Wedensday morning, and no sign of either squab for two days now. They both left at 45 days. (I caught a couple of distanct glimpses of Sammy on Sunday at age 46 days, but he has not been on the balcony since Saturday.)
The nest-building is coming along surprisingly well. I mean, before they laid in a few twigs, but this time … Man! They’ve got a little structure going. And Big Pidgee keeps flying out for more twigs. He drops them in the box, then Little Pidgee rearranges them neatly. It’s a much more industrious design; I wonder if this means anything, like they’re more comfortable here or what.
The trouble is the nest looks SO nice that the wife isn’t sure now that we should change out the box. Transferring the twigs will probably break them up some. I tend to agree with her, but the present box has a thin layer of dried shit in it, and I’d like to start with a fresh one. The shit is underneath the nest, so maybe it’s okay for now. We still have time to decide. It really is a pretty nest, and it would be a shame to break it up. I took some photos of it this morning and will post them soon.
Heard back from Pigeon Watch. They liked my photos and stuff and have asked me to write up a couple of paragraphs and select some photos for their Pigeon Stories section. I’ll do that soon.
The squabs have definitely vamoosed into the world. Big and Little Pidgee still sleep elsewhere at night but are back here early in the morning. Little Pidgee has started acting like she’s in labor again, with Big Pidgee hovering around looking concerned, so eggs must be imminent. Last night while they were gone, I gingerly raised up one edge of the nest, and it does sort of hold together, but I think it would fall apart if I tried to move it for real. We’ll probably give this flower box one more go, but then we’ll have to change it for sure.
And we have another pigeon egg!
Late this afternoon (Thursday afternoon), Little Pidgee laid the first egg of the fourth clutch. That’s little Marty inside. And the wife was able to observe Little Pidgee laying it. Not the actual exit per se, but she said Little Pidgee at one point seemed to be straining like a woman in labor, along with stretching her neck out and bobbing her head up and down. Really seemed to be pushing. Big Pidgee stayed nearby. Then later she noticed an egg. Big Pidgee flew away eventually, returned once to check on his woman, then left for the night. Mother and egg are out there now.
One more to come. Should have it by Saturday, with hatching starting on the 23rd or 24th.
And we have the second egg! That one has little Katie inside. We came home after dark, and the Switch had already occurred, of course. Couldn’t tell how many eggs there were, but we figured there had to be a second one now. Finally Little Pidgee shifted around, and sure enough, two. So that’s Marty and Katie now forming inside the eggs.
Big and Little Pidgee have reverted once again to the familiar pattern of Mother here at night, father in the daytime. I’ll start a new photo page for this fourth batch sometime, including showing the intricacy of this latest nest. But otherwise, not much more will be going on for a couple more weeks, when the hatchings start.
YAY! And I love the new names, too! 
I wonder how many batches they’ll lay before they get tired of this parenting stuff.