Saturday morning, and the squabs are 26 days old. Last night, at age 25 days, Mandie finally took the leap out of the flower box. She and Charlie slept huddled in a corner of the balcony instead of returning to the box. But they kept shoving each other out of the way to be tucked right into the corner itself, obviously considered a prime location. But they’re still sticking together, and they returned to the box this morning.
New photos and a video! Ages 20-25 days. First the photos:
21 days: This is when I took them out of the flower box and set them on the floor. They were so shocked they could barely move. Charlie. Mandie. And the two of them.
25 days: Family portrait. That’s Ladyboy the mother on the rail, father The Bully perched on the edge of the living room. You can see the little guys would not be fitting inside the living room very well now at all.
And a two-minute video: Checking out the world at age 25 days. They’re getting more and more curious. I took this yesterday (Friday) before Mandie finally followed her brother out of the flower box. Charlie’s going walkabout, and Mandie is thinking about it, you can tell. After about a minute, she’ll even start flapping her wings and perch on this side of the box. Dad is off camera to the left and cooing to try to get her to come out.
It is really amazing to see how far they’ve grown in such a short time. You remember how tiny they were when they hatched less than a month ago! Probably not many more physical changes to go. Mandie still has a little baby fuzz to lose. They still have to develop that white area where the nostrils are. And the feet will turn more of a fuchsia color, although we have seen some pigeons whose feet were black.
That final video is the best. They really do look all grown up. I need to figure out how to sign onto youtube so I can make comments, instead of just viewing.
Wonderful pictures and video, Sam! They are both just beautiful!
Keep up the great work. I know LadyBoy and The Bully are grateful for your involvement. That flower pot would indeed be most uncomfortable for the babies now.
Thanks, everyone. But I don’t know about the parents appreciating it. They always look pretty darned annoyed with me, especially when I’m handling their babies. And the handling seems to pay off. Charlie and Mandie will “take it” instead of running away like previous squabs. I try not to move quickly, but still they always look like they’re braced for death when they see my hand coming in. But then they seem to enjoy the head and neck massages. But oh how they hate when I’m cleaning out there.
27 years old today (Sunday) and still not flying yet. But that should come at any time now. They still use the flower box as their base but like to sleep down in the corner of the balcony now, down below the right bottom corner of our balcony windows as you’re looking out. Another physical change that will come over time is a change in eye color. Their eyes are still all black now but will at some point turn orange.
Looks like someone meant to post in the What’s the Last Bridge You Crossed hread instead.
Tuesday morning and the squabs are 29 days old. A full month tomorrow. They can now hop up onto the living room and the other tree pot. I wonder if they remember it.
They’ve started sleeping on the concrete verge now, but for three nights they slept squashed into the corner by our window. My guess is they felt instinctively safe from predators. But they kept pushing each other out of the way to be in the very corner itself. At one point, Charlie was right on top of his sister. The Bully actually came down from his perch on the rails and started cooing at them. Just like a father! He was clearly telling Charlie to get off of his sister and leave her alone. I reached out and moved Charlie off to the side. But now, like I said, they’ve chosen the concrete verge, over by the wall and underneath their parents.
The Bully and Ladyboy were screwing all weekend, in the designated sex area and right in front of the kids. And Ladyboy keeps hanging out in the living room,like maybe she’s going to lay some new eggs. We’re of mixed feelings about this. We still think of this as Henry’s place, and he’s visibly put out by developments. And we don’t want to get into another Bob situation, in which one or both parents disappears and leaves the squab for us to try to care for. (Poor Bob. :() On the other hand, they’re amusing and fascinating to watch, and The Bully is good about keeping other pidgees away, although we have to stop him from harassing Henry and Geri. We’ll see what happens.
Ladyboy laid it this evening (Tuesday evening), almost a month after the last batch. At this rate, we’ll be releasing 24 new pigeons a year into the neighborhood. We expect a second egg to follow in the next couple of days. She laid the new one in the living room again. Sure doesn’t seem to like that flower box. Just as well since Charlie and Mandie, while sleeping outside it at night now, still take their afternoon nap inside the flower box every day.
We’re not sure if Charlie senses something and is affected by jealousy, but tonight – it’s after 10:30pm now – he’s insisting on staying with Mama up in the living room. She actually pecked at him a couple of times but not seriously, and he’s still there with her. Mandie is on the concrete verge again, and The Bully on the rails watching over his family.
The wife put some food down for the parents today and said Mandie ate a little herself for the first time. The Bully was cooing at them for a long time today, and we think he was trying to persuade them to come over and fly, but they ignored him. I guess they’ll be leaving for their own lives soon though.
Right now everyone out there is staring at me. I got a good look at the egg when Ladyboy went to drink some water. Guess our late nights have not troubled them enough to find another place. We do wonder what happened to their old nest. And that’s something else: These guys are not nest builders like Big Pidgee and Little Pidgee were. Those two built very intricate nests, with him flying off and returning with twigs and her weaving them into the structure. But these two? Nada. Just the dirt.
Wednesday night and still only one egg. We expect the second one tomorrow. Charlie and Mandie are still sleeping here and not flying yet. The Bully keeps trying to persuade them to fly we think, what with all his cooing at them.
My persistence in handling the squabs has paid dividends. They’re not afraid of me now! Ladyboy, who has known me for three years now, still runs if I come close. Henry? No way, I have to keep my distance. But these squabs let me pet them. And now they’ve stopped freaking out when I clean out on the balcony. They just sit there and stare at me.
One month old today (30 days). They’re still being fed by their parents, but Charlie was eating regular birdseed today, and I saw Mandie drinking water. I don’t think it was the first time for her, as I’ve seen squabs shocked when they’ve first discovered the stuff. One who had flown here from elsewhere was so startled when it stuck its beak into water for apparently the first time that it took off like a rocket.
Thursday night and we have the second egg! Laid today. Kenny and Laurie.
Meanwhile, Charlie and Mandie are 31 days old but still don’t seem interested in flying. The Bully keeps cooing up a storm at them in what is by now an obvious attempt to get them to fly, but they seem like teenagers who want to lay around the house and won’t go out and get a job. They’re perfectly healthy but seem to want to just hang around and keep getting fed. Hope they decide to fly soon.
I have pigeons! Well, my neighbors do. I know this because their rooster is loose. I saw him in my yard earlier. I went outside and he ran into my next door neighbor’s back yard. Which abuts the rooster neighbors’ yard on the street behind me. That’s when I saw the line of pigeons on their wooden fence. We had a storm earlier and I guess it damaged the birds’ enclosure. I went around there to tell them but no one was home. I left a note on the door to tell them their fowl were free.
The pigeons are having a great time flying from tree to tree and then back to the roof. Freedom! (I’m assuming they have never been out - I’ve never seen a pigeon around here.) There may be up to a dozen of them. They seem to be sticking close to home and from what I’ve learned here, I guess they will go back to their enclosure when it gets dark. I’ve lost sight of the rooster - he jumped a fence into the next yard down from me and disappeared. I don’t know if roosters are smart enough to go back home. I’m keeping a watch out front in case he gets into the street but I don’t know what else I can do.
It’s starting to get dark and the pigeons have settled down. They are hanging out in the trees closest to their house. No sign of humans over there and no sign of the rooster. I hope they will all be ok.
Henry and Geri still come around but not as often. I’ve not seen Henry for a couple of days now, which is sad but not unusual anymore. I doubt he’ll stop coming completely as long as we still slip him a little food. Poor little guy. We’ve been friends for four years now.
So your neighbors keep pigeons? Are they for racing? They can probably find their own food, but they might like some birdseed if you can find some and throw their way.
I don’t know these neighbors so didn’t know they had pigeons until I saw them today. They have a tall wooden fence around the yard so I can only see the top of a fairly big enclosure. I knew they had a rooster - he crows all the time. I haven’t heard him crowing at all tonight so I wonder if he’s ok. I’ll watch tomorrow to see if the pigeons are still flying free. I have some birdseed I can put out if they haven’t been rounded up.
I did a little research on keeping pigeons in a coop and I’m wondering if they are breeding them for some purpose. Might have some unwanted mating going on while they are free. I’d bet they have never been out before. When I first saw them on the fence, they seemed unsure about what was happening. Then they all took to the sky and really seemed to be having fun.
Poor Henry. I hope he doesn’t get driven away by all the activity. But it is exciting to have more squabs on the way!
Well, I just saw Charlie fly over to the window frames. He’s suddenly become very reluctant again for me to touch him and flew over when I cleaned out there some. But Mandie is still resisting flight. In fact, she kept getting in the way of my cleaning, and I had to move her along a couple of times. She’s still not all that happy to be touched but does enjoy a nice head massage once it gets going.
I notice a couple of twigs in the living room now, possibly a token effort at a nest. But like before, I doubt much will come of it. And the parents do not like me faffing around with the eggs or living room. Ladyboy in particular kept coming up and grunting at me, then flying away. She’s back on the eggs now, and Dad is giving a feeding to the squabs over in the flower box, which I’ve moved back over to the middle edge of the balcony.
So Charlie and Mandie are 32 days old now, and I’ve finally seen Charlie fly.
I’ll post the latest photos soon. I’ll probably not document this next batch quite as heavily, but there will be photos.
Tuesday morning, and the squabs are 36 days old. Yesterday, at age five weeks, we finally saw Mandie fly. She’d been doing some helicopters in the days before, slightly lifting off the ground, but this time she flew, up to the top rail, then to the other side, then over to the window frames. The Bully had been cooing at her for days trying to get her to fly, and Charlie’s been flying for days too. But Mandie seems content here. Today for the first time, Charlie has disappeared completely, apparently having followed his father off somewhere. We’re sure he’ll be back. But Mandie just wants to hang around here. A real home body.
Will post those new photos soon. Been busy. But there are not many changes. I think their nostril areas are becoming more formed, otherwise nothing much. Very cute though. Charlie seems so big next to Mandie but small net his parents, so there will still be some growing.
And yesterday Charlie attacked Henry and Geri’s kid, who keeps following them here. He even pecked a little angrily at his own father, The Bully, at one point yesterday in a bid to get more birdseed, but still he wants to be fed by him. Both squabs will eat birdseed now but still want feedings from the parents.
I live in Memphis. 
I’ll watch tomorrow to see if the pigeons are still flying free. I have some birdseed I can put out if they haven’t been rounded up.