27 days old on November 30. And a group photo that same evening (I held the camera up over my head): That’s Pam and Tony in the flower box; Pete on the green concrete, a day shy of 10 weeks; mama Ladyboy on the new eggs: and daddy The Bully on the round railing.
Tony has gone Awol. Not seen for days. Pete’s been stopping by though. He was just here today. Found his own place to sleep at night though, I reckon.
Pumpkin and Popcorn are one week old today (Monday). They have all four eyes open now. Big eyes too. The parents a day or two ago started leaving them completely alone for periods. Today Pumpkin looked like he was trying to stand so as to rear up at me. That stage is coming, maybe two or three more days. It will be interesting to see how they turn out, what markings they’ll have. Right now they still look like any other squabs.
There’s another YouTube video. I’ll try to get that posted too.
Holy cats, the group pic is one bunch of good looking pidgees! They really are a handsome group. Maybe one day you can get a pic of my gal Spooky and her spawn? Happy Holidays and a prosperous New Year to you, your lovely wife and your feathered babies!
Late Christmas night and people are setting off fireworks in the temple parking lot downstairs. It’s freaking out The Bully and Ladyboy a little. They may think we’re responsible for this. The Bully stayed over on the window frames for the longest time after dark, the fireworks rattled him so. He finally flew on over here after dark when the noise settled down, but now it’s started again. Hope they’re ready for New Year’s Eve, when all hell will break loose, heh.
Pam did not come back tonight. Just the parents and the two new squabs, nine days old.
Thanks, and to you and everyone. Thursday morning, the so-called Boxing Day, and Pumpkin and Popcorn are 10 days old. They’re sprouting more feathers, and it looks like both will be white (still largely yellow fuxzz though). In fact, they’re still identical. This has never happened before. Usually there’s a size difference or the feather color when first sprouting is at least a little different, but not this time. We’ may have to wait and see the individual markings. I wonder if it’s possible they could even end up identical twins, markings and all.
Friday morning, the squabs are 11 days old now, and finally we’re seeing a difference. Noticed it late last night. One, whom we’ve decided is Pumpkin, has a whiter top of the head than the other, Popcorn. Otherwise, there’s still not much difference overall in the pattern of the feathers, which are now coming out quickly.
And the cycle continues. Ladyboy and The Bully are being all sweet to each other again. We’ve not seen actual sex, but no doubt they’ve been doing it.
And no one else out there anymore except the parents and the new squabs. Pam is gone for the second night running, and no Tony for a long time now. I think just a few more days and we’ll have to transfer the squabs to the flower box. The parents may not like that, but at least that frees up the Living Room for more eggs.
I keep trying to get a picture of gimpy Spooky and her kid, but the kid frightens easily and flees when I get near with the camera. I think I got a shot of Spooky and her kid over on the window frames. Will have to see how it comes out.
Oh good! I look forward to seeing it. On another note, aren’t you happy that pigeons aren’t like crows? And keep their kids around for a couple of years? You would have to build a bigger balcony.
There are some crows in the neighborhood, but we’ve not noticed any young ones. Do they lay eggs continuously like pidgees?
The good news is Charlie showed back up today. Six months old and we haven’t seen him for weeks, maybe a month. It was him though, we know his markings. So I guess we should not be too worried about the sudden disappearances.
Crow families tend to stay together longer. “A successful family may raise from one to six young from a nest; the average is three. Two of those three will be alive and with the parents the next year, when they may successfully raise another family. Those two will probably still be with the parents the next year, along with two of their younger siblings. Families quickly become large, with up to 15 crows moving around together. I have seen five adult crows at a single nest at once, all with their heads in the nest feeding young. Eventually some of the young die or disperse and the family size drops. Of the roughly 200 nests I observed over the first six years of the study, 80 percent were attended by three or more crows. Average family size is 3.5.”
[URL=“Family Lives of the Uncomon American Crow”/URL]
However, the crows in your part of the planet might behave differently.
Thanks.The crows in our neighborhood are quite large. They’ve only been around two or three years maybe. The pidgees were the largest birds nearby, but now it’s the crows. Would hate to have 15 of those suckers on our balcony. I think we’ve only seen no more than three couples at once. Might be only one couple flying around now.
Pete keeps stopping by in the daytime, and he seems to have a little friend following him around now. He’s three months old. A bit soon, but maybe he’s found a mate. Meanwhile, the parents are going at it like teenagers again.
Crows are pretty wonderful birds, and when a horrible case of West Nile blew through here during the early part of the 2000’s, we lost so many corvids that it was frightening. Ravens, crows and magpies almost all died. All those being my favorites of the bird world, I was heartbroken.
But they are back now and West Nile hasn’t been so horrible. Good news for me, not so hot for pidgees, since the crows will raid their homes and take the babies right out.
However, since pidgees breed year round, they manage to keep on keeping on, though, if you have a large murder of crows, as we have here at my condo complex, you will see few pidgees.
If I want some pidgee awesomeness, just a half a mile from me is a house with a large flock of homing pigeons, and it’s wonderful to watch them when he let’s them out in the morning.
After 11pm on New Year’s Eve and some neighborhood residents are down in the temple parking lot setting off fireworks. All night long. Ladyboy and The Bully are not happy campers.
They probably think it’s related to my transferring the squabs Pumpkin and Popcorn to the flower box today. They’re 15 days old and big enough to move. Getting crowded in the Living Room. But I noticed the parents had made an indentation in the dirt in the flower box, and they’ve been “cuddling” together in there for a week or two now, so I’m wondering if they were planning to lay the new eggs in there instead of the Living Room. I may have foiled their plans. They do not look happy at all tonight.
Wow! This thread has been active since May, 2008? Truly impressive, IMHO.
To be perfectly honest, I had not noticed this particular thread and it was only brought to my attention by this thread and post.
FWIW, I’ve never been annoyed by any of Siam Sams posts or threads, and for that matter I usually find them entertaining, or at least informative.
I’m here to announce we have the first egg of 2014. Woo Hoo! Ladyboy just laid it within the last hour. That’s little Oscar out there now. We expect a second egg containing little Emmy on Monday. (Get it? Oscar and Emmy? Heh. :D)
I saw a sad sight today. Walking down a street, a gray pigeon landed near me, and I noticed he had only one foot. He had the left leg, but the foot was completely gone. It wasn’t like Spooky, who still has her useless leg. The foot was just missing, and the leg just ended where the foot should be. He could still walk okay. A male, judging by the size.
The present squabs are 19 days old now and practicing their standing. Should be hopping out of the box by next weekend. Feedings are done now almost exclusively by the father. We’ve noticed Mama back off before when it comes time to start worrying about new eggs. Expect the new clutch to start hatching about the 21st.
