Yay! One of the little pidgees managed to push it’s way out from under the parent. Got a photo. The parent managed to get it shoved back underneath it, though. Will take more post photos sometime this weekend.
So ugly it’s cute. Apparently, a day-old pigeon’s beak resembles a unicorn horn. Looks like a unicorn horn stuck onto a scraggly little chick.
Still waiting…
Squeak, squeak, squeak, squeak, squeak, squeak!
They’re quiet so far. Three days old now (Sunday here). But they are alive, wiggling. The parents manage to keep them pretty covered up in that flower pot, but I’m uploading some photos now and will post soon. I managed to take a couple during this morning’s Switch (coming earlier now), but it looks like this yellow, furry mass.
I guess I should have said a yellow, *feathery * mass in my last post, although it looks a lot like fur.
But as promised, here are some squab photos. 
This past Friday at one day old with Big Pidgee here and here. Note the empty eggshell. The other squab is underneath Big Pidgee. You can make out this one’s little beak and a yellow spot right at the tip of it on the left of the little yellow mass. Big Pidgee is the bigger pigeon and acts more motherly than Little Pidgee, even if Little Pidgee is the one with night-shift duty in the flower pot.
Here are some taken this morning (Sunday morning) during the Switch. Three days old. Little Pidgee, typically, took off the moment it detected Big Pidgee in the vicinity, so I was able to take these photos before Big Pidgee hopped into the flower pot. See here, here and, this time from inside, here. Two squabs. The one on the left has its head at the top; the one on the right has its head at the bottom, and you can make out an eye, the beak and a wing if you look closely.
Today, we’ve seen Big Pidgee regurgitating food into the hungry young’uns’ mouths several times, but it still tries to keep the squabs covered beneath her the rest of the time. They’re starting to get old enough to keep squirming out if they’re not asleep, though. Will be interesting to see how long it takes them to grow big enough to get out of the flower pot.
I’m not sure what your balcony looks like but you might want to line it with something so the babies don’t fall off and go splat once they start walking around outside of the pot.
It’s raised up 5 1/2 inches all around there, about the same height as the flower pot. Hopefully, they won’t try to climb over the edge until they’re ready to fly.
Hmmm. Well, now I’m worried about the squabs falling off the balcony. 
But the wife has reminded me that the building management told her pigeons building nests on the balconies was a common problem (even though this is our first one in 4 1/2 years in this unit.) That includes one neighbor on this floor, who said the squabs grew up and flew away. Of course, I suppose they could have fallen off and she just thought they flew away.
No, I think it’s raised up enough to keep them in until they can fly.
Aw. How cute! Well, sort of. 
I really wouldn’t worry about them falling off the balcony. They’re cliff birds so I’m sure babies have been being born on precarious perches for millennia. Your balcony sounds a lot safer than a lot of places pigeons roost.
And no cats to eat them! And the flower pot is relatively protected from the strong storms we’ve been having. I think the pigeons lucked out when they picked us to move in with.
Ya know, birds often return to a place they’ve nested successfully. Gonna keep that flower pot out there next year?
And have you decided what marinade to use with the squabs? 
Seriously, as a member of the Audobon Society I’m glad to have a chance to hear about your birds. That doesn’t mean that I can’t like a certain Tom Lehrer song as well!
Yeah, I think maybe so. Especially since they’ve stopped crapping all over the patio – they’re either in the flower pot or away – we’ve started warming up to them. The Switch occurs earlier now, and I heard Big Pidgee cooing this morning before I raised up the curtain to take a peek, and then she stopped. (Big Pidgee seesm more maternal despite having the shorter daytime shift, so we think that one’s the mother.)
Just an update. It’s Friday here now, and the squabs are 8 days old. I took some more photos a day or two ago when the parents were away but have not uploaded them yet, mainly because the flower pot looks pretty gross now. Talk about fouling your own nest; now I understand fully where that expression comes from!
They’ve progressed exactly like in the photos in their Wikipedia entry, looking exactly like that after 1 and 5 days. Sunday will make 10 days, and the gray is already pushing through, but they’re still mostly yellow.
Now Little Pidgee does not like sitting in the flower pot. It stands close by, on a balcony rail. Which means it’s crapping on the balcony again, grrrr 
. This morning I was out there sort of playing with the squabs. One in particular can stand up for a couple of seconds now and seemed to be trying to go for my waving fingers, like it thought I had food. (I was holding out my hand wiggling a couple of fingers overhead.) It didn’t look like it was freaked out anyway, buttrather like it was inetersted. I hope I was not freaking it out. Have not actually touched them.
Big Pidgee does still spend time in the flower pot, stepping all over the squabs. They don’t seem to mind. But Little Pidgee hangs out outside. Still not much noise from the squabs. I heard them for the first time today, and they weren’t very loud. One in particular seems stronger than the other and now keeps spreading its little wings and trying to stand.
We’re clearly going to have to throw out the flower pot afterward, it’s pretty gross. I thought I mitth replace it for the next batch of eggs, but now that Little Pidgee has taken to crapping on the balcony again, the wife wants them to stay away after the kids leave. I’m not sure she’ll get her wish, though, as I think they’ve decided this is a home.
Well, the Switch just occurred. Big Pidgee jammed itself into the flower pot, and it’s looking pretty tight in there now. The squabs may be minding it now after all.
Still not certain which is the mother. Little Pidgee has the all-night shift, but Big Pidgee seems more what we would consider maternal, but maybe that’s just ascribing human characteristics mistakenly. Big Pidgee does most of the feeding, although we finally saw Littlle Pidgee doing some. There are still two main Switches, but now in the early morning after daybreak, we notice Little Pidgee will take off for a while, and sometimes Big Pidgee will stop by briefly and then fly away again, returning for the main Switch in the late morning.
I believe we need more pictures.
You know what you have to work on next, right? Emus.
Coming this weekend.
Just pigeons please.
Sunday here now, and the squabs are 10 days old. I think we’re going to hold off on more photos until they can climb out of the flower pot. It’s looking pretty gross in there. The poor little guys are all smeared with shit, which is lining the side of the flower pot. We’re starting to wonder whether we should tip the pot sideways and let them out, but I guess in other places, too, they’re restricted in area, and this is where the parents wanted the nest, so we’ll see what plays out. Heard them cheeping for the first time today, but it turns out they were fighting with each other with Little Pidgee squeezed in. Or maybe they were playing, dunno. They settled down once Little Pidgee got out.
Sam, per your informative cite in post 74, Cecil says the male takes the day shift. Thanks for the cites on the urban non-legend.