I checked on the chick this morning, it’s getting bigger by the day. It’s also getting uglier and uglier. If it keeps going this way I’m going to get me a flamethrower, just in case.
LOL
Yeah, they start looking like something from a Japanese manga. I like what we call their “Jabba the Hut” phase, when their bodies start puffing out. But don’t worry, it will turn attractive after about 20 days or so. I’m glad it seems to be healthy.
The long-promised photos. Just a few. I hadn’t realized I’d been saving them on my camera for three months now! Some pidgees have come and gone in the interim.
Two pidgees. I believe that’s Moe on the left and Joey asleep on the right. Both gone now.
Henry and Junior eating. That’s on September 21. Junior seemed sick 22 days later and disappeared suddenly. RIP, Junior. 
Ladyboy in the Living Room. This is on September 26, exactly two weeks after he first appeared. An obvious Henry offspring. Very smooth and elegant, we initially thought he was female and called him Sweetie. But he soon started exhibiting male behavior – puffing out his neck and doing the Angry Dance at other pidgees. But very feminine-looking. So he’s been Ladyboy ever since. 
Ladyboy on October 5.
Max on October 8. Beautifully marbled. He disappeared shortly after Junior did, as well as seeming a little ill himself, although much less so than Junior.
Ladyboy trying out the flower box.
Som on November 4. The word som is Thai for “orange,” and you can see a small orange streak mid-wing. (No, that’s not the dirty window.) She stayed around only a couple of days or so. We don’t suspect anything untoward happened to her.
The elegant Ladyboy takes a meal, November 19.
And that’s all the photos for now. Meanwhile, Henry comes to eat every day. He had something like an eight-day absence two months ago, and we feared the worst. but then he started showing up every day again. Maggie has been gone three weeks now, but she’s disappeared before. This is about as long as she’s been gone in the past, so we hope she shows back up soon. Ladyboy is a regular fixture, too. As is Big Eyes, a small gray male. One of the two Pretty Ones is still mourning the loss of his mate Scruffy but acts mean towards the others. Worse, one we call the Dark One is a complete and total bully, and we have to chase him away. In fact, to allow Henry eat in peace, we often have to stand guard while he eats, chasing away the Dark One, Evil Gray and that one Pretty One, because they’ll try to bully Henry. And Henry seems to know we’re helping him. While the others take flight, he stays. Still won’t let us touch him, though.
And now back over to Ale. His squab must be close to three weeks old now and should finally be starting to look like a pigeon.
Is the little guy doing helicopters yet?
It looks like a pigeon now, thankfully it left the Giger phase behind; although it still looks rather scruffy. The nest on the other hand is entirely disgusting.
Not sure what you mean about helicopters though, it just sits in the nest all day from what I’ve seen.
Sometime around 20 days, he’ll start experimenting with his wings. He’ll flap like crazy and hover in a spot for a few seconds or a minute. Before long, he’ll start taking short flights off the balcony.
Yeah, welcome to the wonderful world of pigeon poop.
Meanwhile, there’s been a startling development over here. Ladyboy, whom we determined to be male following his angry dances and neck puffing, decidedly male characteristics, has started having sex with The Pretty One, the widower who lost his beloved Scruffy! :eek: Ladyboy first showed up exactly three months ago this past Sunday, and we figure he/she is between four and five months old. Must just now becoming sexually active. But Ladyboy seems to be the one instigating the relationship, preening Pretty One’s head and crouching down low as if to say: “Come and get it, big boy!” The wife was startled yesterday to see them kissing and then doing the deed – in the designated sex area, of course. They must like it there because it’s out in the open and no pots or water dishes nearby to get in the way. And I’ve noticed Ladyboy is staying close to Scruffy today (Tuesday) too. Could Ladyboy be a lady after all? Or is he really a ladyboy in true Thai style, and he’s fooled The Pretty One?
Woo Hoo! And Maggie’s back. After four weeks. Just found her out there kissing Henry.
“As The Pigeon Turns”
Someone on the pigeon boards has confirmed that female pigeons do sometimes mimic male behavior. That person reckons Ladyboy is a girl after all. I dunno, this is Thailand, and the grieving Pretty One would not be the first male to be fooled by what looks at first glance like a comely maiden. But Ladyboy is discovering his/her sexuality, whichever gender, and the impression being given is that of a horny teenage slut.
Since Maggie keeps disappearing for three or four weeks at a time, my theory is maybe she just stays with the nest full-time once she lays eggs and has squabs. But she’d still have to eat sometime. But someone on the pigeon boards agrees this might be plausible though. Says there may be a “semi”-food source near the nest.
Whatever the answer, Henry and Maggie are inseparable again. Keep stopping by for food together and to “do the deed” in the designated sex area. And Maggie eats A LOT.
It’s official too that Ladyboy and The Pretty One are an item. They seem inseparable themselves now. Sadly, that means Ladyboy is now off following her new hubby around most of the time instead of hanging out here. Fed them a couple of times this morning, though. I guess The Pretty One has gotten over Scruffy.
Just found this good urban-pigeon report: Feral pigeon: flying rat or urban hero?
Maggie has disappeared again, since late last week. We figure that means new eggs in their nest, wherever that is. And Henry is pigging out a lot more. Someone on the pigeon boards suggested that Henry and Maggie’s arrangement could be he feeds her while she’s on the nest, at least part of the time. That person has seen that behavior before.
That would explain Henry’s increased appetite. He’s really demanding more food now. Usually if we close the curtains while he’s out there, because there are too many other pigeons around and we don’t want to feed everyone, he’ll take the hint. These past few days, though, he’s been standing out there, staring at the closed curtains and cooing for food. Sounds like a mating call, but he’s clearly asking for food (he’s done this before). And he’ll jump up on the little ledge the sliding door runs on like he normally does when the curtain is open, only now he’ll do it while the curtains are closed, and stay on there. We can see his little silhouette through the curtain. Once the other pigeons leave, then we’ll feed him. Hungry little guy these days. I really think he must be feeding Maggie. I guess we’ll see her again in three or four weeks.
I wish you could get a nest going on your balcony again. We could have another “name the squab” contest!
We would love them to nest here, and we keep the flower box out in hopes. But alas! They seem to have a cozy setup elsewhere. The one time Henry tried to sleep here at night, I guess we disturbed him too much.
And no sooner had I written my previous post than Maggie appeared briefly. But she’s definitely cut back. And there’s a new one small one that looks suspiciously like Maggie. Just appeared today. Hmmm.
That one appearance by Maggie was the last we’ve seen of her. She must be on the nest with eggs again. And now we suspect that is indeed correct about Henry feeding her. He comes by in the mornings, eats A LOT, flies off, then returns, hops up onto the window ledge again and asks for more. He’ll do this two or three times in the morning, then sometimes back in the afternoon.
But now there’s a little Pigeon Mafia of bullies who try to attack Henry while he’s eating. So now what we often end up doing is standing guard near Henry so he can eat. We have a small spray bottle with which to shoot a stream of water at the attacking bullies and let Henry eat in peace. This is all becoming a bit surreal: A wild animal regularly comes by and formally asks for food, then eats it as we stand guard over him. And he won’t even let us touch him!
Maggie has returned, pretty much on schedule. But the bad news is she seems a little sick. The past couple of days, she’s just stayed on the rails and watched Henry eat. Doesn’t want to eat anything herself. A little droopy-eyed too, like she’s sleepy. Not as bad as Junior seemed afflicted, or Max, but definitely something going on. No chance to catch her so far, as she won’t come down to the floor, and when I try to get close for a look, she’ll fly away.
Henry himself is as fat and healthy as ever. He’s definitely not affected. Eats like a pig, chases the pidgess away that he can. We still guard him against a couple of bullies he can’t handle. If he’s been feeding Maggie or otherwise intimate with her, seems like he should be affected too. Hope he stays okay!
Just so no one will worry: Pigeons don’t carry bird flu. And even if they did, the last reported case in Thailand was four years ago, in January 2007. And there were only ever 25 cases total in the country, from 2004-07, and most of those were in 2004. So we’re not worried about that.
A month or so ago we had no choice but to evict Sauron’s family from the balcony, mainly because it became impossible to use the balcony, what with every single horizontal surface (and some verticals too) covered in droppings. Since we walk barefoot inside the apartment, going out and stepping on bird shit is not very pleasant.
So either I had to get into the guano business or get the birds to find a new nesting place.
I cleaned and removed the rack and boxes where they had been nested; for a few days they hung around, pitifully huddling together in a corner for a few nights. Now they show up every now and then, but no more nesting here.
Yes, the guano can be an issue. We give our balcony a good cleaning at least once a week and don’t use it very much ourselves anyway. Always wear sandals when we do go out there. We’d hate to do without Henry and a few others.
Hope Maggie is going to be okay. Am seeking advice from the pigeon boards. 
Three days now and still no Maggie. May be too late for her, but the pigeon boards have recommended possibly mixing an antibiotic called flagyl, preferably in liquid form, in with the drinking water to treat the flock against certain common ailments. We’ll check into that. Not sure, but I believe I’ve taken that in pill form in the past for intestinal trouble. You don’t need a doctor’s prescription for antibiotics and such over here, and the wife is making a pharmacy run tomorrow anyway. I just measured the amount of water in the water dish. Looks to be about 22 ounces. It’s actually a plastic container that we get with Korean take-out, and we save them up for use as water dishes and the like. Once I get the medicine, we’ll figure out an appropriate dosage.
Henry himself remains healthy and happy. He obviously monitors us from afar. In some of my photos, you’ll have noticed a large Chinese-Thai temple across from us, and on one recent morning I saw him barreling forth from there straight to here the moment I opened the curtain.