You realize of course Blackie and Snowy are going to bring home dates, and you’ve now got a kit, right?
You might as well start building nesting shelves on your patio. 
We’re hoping the parents will kick them out. 
They already seem tired of tolerating their demands to be fed.
In other pigeon related news, as I was driving to work today I saw a pigeon using a crosswalk! It waited on the side of the street until the cars had passed and then walked directly across the street. It appeared to be an adolescent pigeon so maybe, like Snowy, it didn’t quite have the hang of the flying thing. Or, this being Germany, was just following the rules…
Siam,
What a coincidence! I have pigeons nesting on my apartment 3rd floor porch. What happened was this. I’d been using that porch as more of a storage space than anything else, so placed an empty plastic suitcase there leaning on some old portraits. That leaning suit case made a perfect little nook in the corner and one pigeon decided to nest there.
So at this stage the pigeons have established a nest, and are currently incubating about 4 eggs.
I have a problem though. I am about to move out. I will probably move out within the next 2 months (still ironing out application issues with my next job, but they have given me a verbal offer, and I’ve given them a verbal acceptance). So what do I do? I don’t know if I can wait out the process of seeing the little one’s developement to adulthood.
Any input?
Good Lord! I’ve become the Dear Abby of pigeons! :eek:
Well, if it’s a full two months before you move, if you do, that should be enough time. The eggs will incubate in 17-19 days (how long have the eggs been there?), and Blackie began flying at age 34 days. So maybe then you could move the nest somewhere outside, where they’ll get the hint it’s time to fly away.
Four eggs, though? I’d read pigeons laid two eggs max. Could you have two different families there?
And now for the BIG news: We have another pigeon egg! Little Pidgee laid it yesterday (Wednesday), but only the one. A second egg has not been forthcoming, but I’ve read it’s only one egg sometimes.
She laid it in the flowerpot again, not in the rectangular flower box. But then we had a bit of drama last night. My wife arrived home late in the afternoon and is not sure but thinks it was not there then. She noticed it later. Little Pidgee was on it. All well and good. But then as soon as it started getting dark, the squabs wanted back in the flowerpot, their bedroom. They’re not so small anymore, so they had to shove themselves in. My wife said Snowy was standing on top of Mama, but Blackie, who is clearly the aggressive one, crammed himself in. When I came home, Little Pidgee and Blackie were crammed in, and Snowy had given up trying to shove in but was perched close in on the side. This did not look good, we were afraid the egg could get crushed in the crunch, so I took matters in hand. I went out and as gently as I could shooed them away from there. Little Pidgee made these worried grunting noises like during the balcony cleaning on Sunday. Then I pulled the rectangular flower box around close to the window where the flowerpot was, transferred the egg to that (It has a deep layer of dirt inside), and we took the by-now shit-encrusted flowerpot out to the trash.
There’s room for them all in the flower box, but the squabs don’t seem to want to jump in. They slept last night in the dirt of that one potted tree, then later perching on the edge of the flower box. They’ve gotten in it before, so I don’t know what’s stopping them now. Indeed, they did love that flowerpot – it’s where they hatched, and they slept in it every night – but enough was enough, it had to go. Maybe this will help persuade them it’s time to move on.
So now I guess we’re back to the old routine. Little Pidgee is waiting for Big Pidgee to take the day shift. As for the squabs, Blackie keeps flying away and coming back, but Snowy just does not want to fly. She’s perfectly content hanging out in the dirt of the potted tree. Both squabs are out there right now. Five weeks old today (Thursday). Still somewhat smaller than their parents, and their feathers are still not as smooth looking as those of the parents. Like Surly Chick said, must still be adolescents.
You should tame them, band their legs, and teach them to race! I hear they make adorable pets. 
Capture one and take it a few blocks away and release it to see if it makes it ‘home’.
Well, Snowy made her first flight yesterday afternoon (Thursday afternoon), and it was a doozy. She hasn’t come back!
My wife was here and said Snowy was at the edge of the balcony looking at Big Pidgee and Blackie, who were on a nearby window frame. She looked like she wanted to join them. So she tries to fly and she does! 5:20pm. My wife did not see where all she went, but shortly afterward she heard a little boy cry out “Hey!” from the balcony below us, and then she saw Snowy zipping away from that balcony and kept going around the corner of the building. Big Pidgee took off and followed. That’s the last we saw of Snowy.
We thought maybe she was hanging out with Dad last night, because Big Pidgee did not come back. Snowy finally returned after dark, after 7pm, and slept inside the rectangular flower box with Little Pidgee. Must be good to have Mama back after her having been gone at night for a couple of weeks. But the Switch has occurred this morning, with Big Pidgee arriving to take over his shift. Blackie is lounging over in the dirt in the potted tree; he uses our balcony as his base. Little Pidgee I spotted on a nearby window frame, and she comes and goes to the balcony. But no Snowy.
Snowy left at exactly 5 weeks old. 35 days. And Blackie’s been flying since a day or two before that. So baby pigeons definitely fly by 5 weeks.
Snowy is back! She was gone more than 24 hours. Must have had quite an adventure, because she seems exhausted now.
It’s about 11:15pm as I write this. Little Pidgee, Blackie and Snowy are all cuddled together in the rectangular flower box. But whereas Little Pidgee and Blackie are awake, no doubt disturbed by my doings inside here, Snowy is almost comatose, in a deep sleep. My wife said she stopped by a little after 5pm with her niece and sister. Her niece has two doves she keeps at home and likes birds, so she wanted to show her the pigeons. It was only Little Pidgee out there at the time. Then they left to join the rest of my wife’s family for dinner, because it’s the niece’s 20th birthday. My wife returns home after 8, and Snowy is back! But she’s seemed exhausted ever since then.
I came home a little after 10pm. When I went out to change their water and wash the floor down a little bit, Snowy did wake up but soon fell back asleep. There’s no blood, she does not seem to have anything broken. She did manage to fly up here AND climb into the flower box. It’s the rainy season now, and we did have some heavy tropical rains tonight, so maybe she got caught out in that. But she just wants to sleep. Changes position occasionally, then goes back to sleep. Again, she must have had quite an adventure.
The wife and I will be away almost all day tomorrow. We’ll let Snowy get a good night’s sleep and see how she is in the morning and if she’s still around when we get back tomorrow night.
Feed Snowy! Poor thing’s probably starving and it sounds like ma & pa are about done with the food thing.
Either than, or lesbian pigeons, which would account for 4 eggs. Unlikely to hatch, but if one or both have been “cheating” it’s possible they’re fertilized. Yes, birds do occasionally pair off same-sex.
We’re out of bread until tomorrow. All I could find were some bananas, so I went out and tried to see if she’d peck at a small piece. She ignored it. I dropped a couple of pieces down by her. Either pigeons don’t like bananas or she’s not very hungry. She has been stretching her wings and preening herself a bit, though.
California pigeons! 
If the eggs haven’t hatched after 19 days, he’ll know.
If you don’t have bread, maybe some cooked rice you could soak in some water and toss out for her? It’s a bit messy, but if she likes it she’ll eat it all.
You’re not going to believe it, since I’m in Thailand, but we don’t have any cooked rice. We don’t really cook, but instead pick up all our meals in the market or have them delivered from our complex’s restaurant. But I did see some sort of oat-looking stuff of my wife’s in the fridge and tossed a few of those in the flower box. That’s not getting a rise out of any of them.
But Snowy is awake now and has been preening herself. I think she probably was able to find her own food while she was gone but maybe got lost and/or socked by those rains tonight.
Well, this is may be a good sign. Little Pidgee was preening Snowy around her throat, underneath the bill, and Snowy was not trying to get into Mama’s mouth gobble food from it like in the past, but she does seem awake and more animated. (I’m probably disturbing them all.) She’s now got a couple small pieces of banana and some oat things (I’ll have to find out from the wife, who is sound asleep now, what they are; they’re not in their original container) to peck at if she’s truly desperate, but she doesn’t seem very hungry. It’s after midnight here, so they may just want to sleep. We’ll see what she’s doing in the morning.
I’m no expert. Pigeons can eat a little of everything, but I’ve never known them to go for fruit much, so the banana is probably out.
Okay, you don’t have rice (shame on you), got some hot peppers? Birds are immune to capsaicin, and they like the seeds sometimes. Any other seeds around the house?
She’s still young though, and would probably prefer something soft.
Ah ha! I found some pseudo-Ritz crackers, so I just now crumbled up a couple and tossed them into the box.
Unfortunately, I freaked out Little Pidgee when a couple of pieces inadvertently bounced off her head.
And when I freaked her out, she jumped up, and NOW I see two eggs there. She’s laid another one today. So we DO have two eggs.
Well, all three pigeons – the mother and both squabs – are thoroughly ignoring the cracker crumbs. Snowy’s moved down to perch on the edge of the box at the other end and is now preening herself. She just doesn’t seem hungry. And now that I’ve scared the bejesus out of Little Pidgee again – after Sunday’s balcony cleaning and shooing her out of the flowerpot – I think I’ll let them get some sleep. Shut down and go to bed myself. Just past 1am here.
Will continue the saga this weekend. 
If you have any grains at all, toss those out there uncooked.
Yay Snowy, for finally learning to fly!