We Have Pigeon Eggs

Gah! I looked out this morning, and ants had gotten into the flower box! Man, I HATE ants. They seemed to be leaving the squabs alone. Attracted to the shit no doubt. Ants never got into the old flowerpot that we could see, and this is the first time I’ve noticed them in the flower box. Once the sun began moving away, they seemed to lessen, so they may only be in there at certain times and I’ve just missed it.

Well, we’ve been refraining from using bug spray out there, but I just had to take matters into hand. There were too many ants. Fortunately, we buy the type of bug spray that comes in a can with a little tube attached to the spry nozzle so you can localize it into cracks and such. That way it doesn’t spray everywhere. So I went outside, and while I wasn’t about to spray inside the flowerbox, I did spray at the base of the four feet of the box, on the sides a little bit and on the green verge of the balcony edge next to the box (there were LOTS of ants on that last one). I sprayed gently, and not too much spray got kicked up. Big Pidgee was a real trouper, didn’t freak out. The squabs were kept covered by him the whole time, so even if some had kicked up, they probably wouldn’t have breathed it too much. I hope that helps! I really, really hate ants.

Get 4 cups or shallow dishes and place them under each of the feet of the planter box, then put water in them. The ants won’t be able to climb up through the water, so they’ll redirect somewhere else! No ants, no poison near the fragile squabs.

Thanks. That seems to have done the trick for now, though, with the squabs and parent none the worse for wear.

What I identified in those last photos as where the eyes will be turns out to be the upper part of the beak, what will be the nostril area! I saw the eyes on one today open, and they’re behind that area. Those sure look like eyes! But the actual eyes are these little dots. Didn’t see them yesterday at all.

You only have a pair (for now) so it’s not the same, but I like watching genetics in action. We had a long time flock that would visit everyday and one time a pure white “dove” decided not to go home after being released from some wedding or other event they release them from, and decided to join our kit. Before long, some youngsters started showing up with a lot of white coloring in them, and it was cool seeing how that coloration got passed down the line.

I’m curious where Snowy & Blackie got their color from. Interesting genetics at play.

And Snowy and Blackie have vanished out into the wide world, or at least the wide neighborhood, so we – the wife especially – feel a little better. We were worried we’d eventually have a balcony covered in pigeons! It will be interesting to see how these two develop. They’re 3 and 2 days old now, and as before, the first one out seems the stronger.

New photos! :slight_smile: :smiley: :cool:

We’ve named the squabs Mamuang and Makham, which in Thai means Mango and Tamarind, respectively, so we call them Manny and Tammy for short. As with the first batch, we’ve arbitrarily assigned genders. Manny, the boy, is the first-hatched and Tammy, the girl, the second-hatched.

You can see Big Pidgee and Manny at 2 days old here, here and here. Tammy is barely visible beneath her father in a couple of these. You can see Manny’s little eye back behind his bill. In the second one especially, you can clearly see the dark area in front of the eye that I at first thought was going to be the eye. In the third photo, Manny’s bill is slightly open.

Big Pidgee is with both squabs visible here and here yesterday (Friday), at 5 and 4 days old. I believe that’s Manny on the left and Tammy on the right. Manny’s the larger one, being a day older.

You can see the size difference more clearly here and here, taken this morning (Saturday morning). That’s Tammy on the left, 5 days old; and Manny on the right, 6 days old. Little Pidgee, the mother, left sometime between 6 and 7am. As with the previous batch, the parents have begun spending longer stretches away at a time about now.

Breakfast time! Big Pidgee, the father, arrived to feed the squabs after I took those last shots. See the feeding here, here, here, here and here. This was not the Main Switch of the shifts. Shortly after I took these, Little Pidgee came back and started feeding the squabs herself. The Main Switch, with Big Pidgee taking over the day shift, occurs around 9am now.

I’ve started a new folder for this batch of the squabs, and you can see all of the above photos on one page here. The earlier photos of the new batch in this thread are still in another photo; I’ll have to move them over to here sometime.

The flower box is working out better than the flowerpot, because it allows us to see the squabs more easily. The depth and restricted space inside the old flowerpot meant we could not see the first batch very clearly until they were much older, but in the flower box the parents cannot cover them up from our view as efficiently. After only a few days, the squabs have grown too big to cover completely. Also, the squabs seem cleaner, because the wider space means they’re not getting shat on all the time.

Unfortunately, the ants seem to have set up a colony at the far end of the flower box. They’re not coming in and out of the box now, I fixed that, but the ones already inside have dug into the dirt and become self-sufficient, carting around little bits of pigeon shit. But they don’t seem to be bothering the pigeons at all. I HATE ants, but there’s nothing I can do about these; cannot spray poison inside the box. We’re going to start looking for a new flowerbox to replace this one when it comes time for the next batch.

I should point out that during the feeding, the parent opens its bill, and the squabs stick their bills inside. Then the parent regurgitates up whatever it does. Both squabs can fit their bills in at the same time. As I recall, the sources I’ve read indicates it’s some sort of pigeon milk being regurgitated from some sort of sac in the throat. Both parents have it, and they share feeding duties. Neat to watch.

Sam: I am thoroughly enjoying this thread (especially the pics), although I have very little interest in pigeons or birding in general. I hope you keep it going for a while.

Thanks. We had very little interest in pigeons ourselves until “ours” decided to move in with us. We’d always considered them flying rats, little shit machines. (Well, maybe they ARE little shit machines still. :smiley: ) Now, even the wife is talking about changing their box for the next batch instead of trying to figure out a way to make them leave.

And I have to say the parents are two very attractive pigeons. Everywhere we go now, we notice the pigeons, and they all seem to look dopey or ugly compared with ours.

I guess you want to start building a coop.

This is embarrassing, but I am reversing myself again :o. It turns out I was right the first time. That dark area I originally thought was going to be the eyes but then decided it would not be DID turn out to be the eyes after all. That little round hole you see behind the dark spot visible in the links above we can now tell is the ear canal! It will eventually be covered over with feathers. Taking advantage of the absence of the parents for a couple of hours this afternoon, I was out cleaning the balcony and took a good close look at the squabs. The ear hole is starting to change shape, and I can clearly see the eyes now in that dark area. So evidently, pigeons hatch with their eyes not open yet. But they’re open now.

Sorry for the confusion, but with the first batch we were unable to follow the squabs’ development very closely over the first week or 10 days, because the shape of the flowerpot meant they were more hidden in those early days. We’ve learned more with this new batch.

Cute ad today-“Pigeon Forge Package”.

Thought of a cute name for this saga, *a la Meerkat Manor * - “Squab Squat”.

I like it. :smiley:

The new squabs are 9 and 10 days old today (Wednesday). Tammy is showing the first signs of some white feathers, just the slightest tinge, and we wonder if she’ll end up looking like Snowy. And so, will Manny look like Blackie? Will each pair of subsequent squabs come out identical? I doubt it, but we’ll see soon enough.

There’s a spotty-headed pigeon that’s shown up a couple of times, but we’re chasing that one away. It’s not one of OUR pigeons. Just now, it landed and went over to look at the squabs, who are in the flower box alone without a parent at the moment. I chased it away and looked out, and Little Pidgee is sitting on a nearby window ledge. She could see the whole thing and did not seem worried about the stranger.

We’ll be upcountry for a few days next week, and the pigeons will be able to enjoy some peace and quiet without us disturbing them all the time.

I think this calls for some Dr. Horrible music.

Last night (Wednesday night) was the squabs’ first on their own. This happened with the first batch, too, Little Pidgee spending the night elsewhere after a while. Still no parents when I looked out this morning, but I did notice a fresh bit of shit, so I know someone had been by. Stepped out and sure enough, both parents were on a nearby window frame. I took the opportunity to grab the camera and take some close-ups that I’ll post in a day or two. The parents watched me get close to the squabs from afar, but they didn’t seem too concerned. As I was changing the water inside, Big Pidgee had returned and watched me set the fresh water down, then walked over and took a good drink. Nice to know they appreciate this.

10 and 11 days old now. Tammy is definitely turning white, Manny looks like he’ll be black. It’s really starting to feel like a carbon copy of Snowy and Blackie. And Tammy is so much smaller than Manny; it’s not just the one-day difference, she’s just a small bird, whereas it looks like Manny is going to be pretty sizeable.

The probably figure that since you haven’t eaten anyone yet you aren’t going to.

I have some new photos! :slight_smile: Several from yesterday (Thursday) and one from today.

Thursday, July 31, aged 10 and 11 days
Here are Tammy and Manny in the flower box. You can see the big eggshell to the left. One of them actually fit inside that less than two weeks ago!

Here and here you can really see how white Tammy is becoming. Her head and neck have not yet turned. Older brother Manny’s turning black in the same way. Sorry about all the shit, but notice how it’s built up in the corners. They seem to be aiming their little butts over that way for the most part. Not exclusively, unfortunately, but That is where most of it ends up now.

Later that morning, Big Pidgee has arrived, here. And here.

A couple of frontal shots here and here.

Friday, August 1, 2008, aged 11 and 12 days
Finally, one from today here. Older brother Manny is in front, and you can see how black he’s turning. I didn’t move the eggshell over there, the parents knocked it over somehow, but it does show how much they’ve grown.

And of course, you can see most of the photos of this batch on one page together here. The very earliest ones of the new batch are in this folder after the ones of the first batch.

Little Pidgee spent just the one night away. Last night and tonight she’s back but not in the box. She’s staying close by on one of the rails.

The squabs’ feathers are becoming more pigeony. And yesterday (Sunday), during what has become the weekly ritual of cleaning the balcony, we broke down and petted them! I don’t mean giving them a little tickle on the breast like with the first batch, but a full four-fingered petting down their backs and sides. They are SOFT and getting fluffier every day. The first batch seemed always to have a thin layer of hardened shit covering them, a result of being stuck inside that deep flowerpot; this more open flower box seems a much better environment. Petting them did not seem to freak them out, but I suppose it’s possible they were frozen stiff with fear. I resisted the temptation to pick one up; maybe later.

Below are some of the shots I took during the cleaning. In these, Tammy, the white one, is 13 days old and Manny two weeks:

Before moving the flower box, I took this one and this one. Manny has especially large eyes, and the wing-feather details are really coming in now. The wing tips will have the same little bands of dark color that the parents have. Little Tammy is going to be even whiter than her sister Snowy was it looks like.

After I moved their box over to the other side of the balcony to clean their area, I took this shot of them from above. You can see the size difference here. They’re looking soft, and they feel just as soft as they look.

Then here is kind of a three-quarters view.

Big Pidgee, the father, showed up during the cleaning and looked a bit concerned. He kept flying back and forth between the edge of the balcony and nearby window frames, giving me the evil eye. After we’d finished and put everything and everyone back in place, he came and gave them a feeding, and later on Little Pidgee stopped by and did the same. That’s good, because I was a little worried our scent might make them reject the squabs, but no. And while Big Pidgee was still in the box, I had to go out and make a slight adjustment to a couple of the potted plants’ positions; he hunkered down but did not freak out and fly away. I’m thinking I may try to pet him sometime. That’s my next goal. He’ll either freak and run for it or freeze up and hope I don’t eat him.

We are leaving soon for some beach time and will be gone a few days. It will be interesting to see how much they’ve grown when we return. The day we leave, I’ll probably not have time to post, so I’ll put up a photo the day before, then another one when we get back.

It is absolutely amazing how fast they grow! I cannot get over the fact that they fit in that teeny egg shell 2 weeks before.

It’s cool that they let you pet them (though what choice did they have, really? ;)), and super cool that they’re so soft to touch. Thanks again for the update! Enjoy the beach!

Thanks. Oh, and that spotty-headed pigeon showed back up yesterday with another stranger pigeon while the parents were away. Spotty Head actually hopped into the flower box to take a look at the squabs! We ran those two off. It wasn’t attacking, seemed curious if anything. The squabs weren’t freaked either, but neither did they start clamoring to be fed; they knew this was not a parent. No sign of Spotty Head today.