Let us know if Rose comes back.
What is the significance of the current names, Woody and Zoe? Friends, relations, TV show? Book even?
Mainly just pulling them out of thin air, although we’re both big Woody Allen fans. and the wife likes the name Zoe.
And it looks like we have litttle Zoe. Saturday morning. At least we see the eggshell, it hasn’t been removed yet, and Mama was hunched over feeding someone whom we couldn’t see, but the other squab was visible. So looks like we have two healthy squabs for the first time in three batches, but Ladyboy won’t budge and give us a plain look yet.
Still no sign of Rose. Hope she’s okay. We had to start chasing away the mysterious Mister X, because he kept attacking the others. He’s not even family, just wanted to stay here. Last night he didn’t even bother to come here. So last night night, with Rose gone that left the parents, Emmy (turns five months the week after next) and Jamie (about 3-1/2 months old). And the new squabs, of course.
The other eggshell has not been disposed of yet. I hope we get to see The Bully do it. Always interesting to see. He doesn’t just dump it out of the tree pot but rather takes it, hops onto the green verge, leans over and drops it off the balcony. It’s evident he has a very clear sense that the entire balcony is his home.
Got a clear look at Zoe. Dad took over on the nest, and him we can get to move along. Woody and a fresh-looking little Zoe. I was petting them, but Mama, who was nearby, did not like that. She came forward and pecked my hand to get me to go away. Fierce little lady!
Quick note before we head out: Rose has returned. 
She’s been gone about 24 hours. Kids! Looks none the worse for wear. Is 33 days old now.
Tuesday morning and Rose is 36 days old, precisely Billy’s age when he died. She seems healthy. Gone all day most days now but stayed away only the one night. She eats regular food now, and something tells me she may have been surprised to learn someone wasn’t going to come along and feed her wherever it was she slept that time.
Woody and Zoe are four and three days old and eating a lot. Haven’t checked yet today but Woody could be cracking open his eyes now.
Yes, Woody did open his eyes yesterday and Zoe did today, Wednesday. So take not that pigeon squabs open their eyes at four days.
I’d mentioned that The Bully liked to dispose of the eggshells over the edge of the balcony. On Zoe’s egg, he was a little lazy, removing the shell only to the far side of the balcony, a huge section of shell, almost all of it with just a small opening on the end that Zoe popped through. So I did what I usually do, which is placing it in the flower box for decoration. And as usual, this time The Bully made sure it was gone. I watched as he carefully picked it up in his bill, went to the edge of the balcony, leaned over and dropped it off. He really does not like these things staying around. Funny old bird.
We named him The Bully not without good reason, because when he first showed up, he was a merciless bully to other pidgees. But he really is a wonderful father. He is very thorough in his parenting – feeding, grooming – and takes on pretty much the whole burden once Mama has new eggs to sit on. The squabs seem to prefer him anyway. And he seems to like us better than Ladyboy does – at least, while he still doesn’t like it, he takes it better when I do something like touch his tail.
And the couple are getting romantic again, so we expect new eggs in a couple of weeks. Rose is 37 days old today and so has lived longer than poor little Billy did.
Tuesday morning and Emmy turns five months old today. She has now about tied Charlie’s record of having stayed around the longest.
So now at night we have Emmy, Jamie (3-1/2 months), Rose (43 days), the parents; and now Woody and Zoe (11 and 10 days, respectively). And Woody and Zoe are getting big. Plan to move them to the flower box soon.
The wife saw yet another limping pigeon out there with string tangled around a leg. That makes three, I think. Hasn’t been back but seemed hurt. We’re pretty sure now that someone somewhere in the neighborhood is trying to capture pidgees. Hope Spooky is okay, as we haven’t seen her for a week or two.
I spoke too soon. Spooky just showed up. 
Thursday morning and Woody and Zoe are 13 and 12 days old. Last night I transferred them to the flower box while Mama was off the nest. She’d been sticking unusually close to them in recent days, almost as if she knew what I was planning. But they got transferred, and Mama did seem annoyed. Kept rooting around the tree pot. But Dad was taking care of them this morning. We’re going to step up out efforts to find another suitable box for the parents to use, as they clearly seem to want to use the flower box to lay new eggs. But the tree pot gets too cramped for the squabs as they grow older. Dunno, maybe we should just buy a small saw to get rid of the dead tree sticking out of the middle of the tree pot.
We have a slightly ill pidgee. Five-month-old Emmy seems to have something stuck in her throat. She keeps making gagging motions, for about a day now. But if I try to catch her, she perks up and flies away. Last night she actually flew inside out condo in a panic, made a lap around the room, then flew back out. She does still seem able to eat, but this is clearly bothering her. We’ve got the number of a vet close at hand in case she deteriorates to the point where we can catch her.
Otherwise, Woody and Zoe are 18 and 17 days old today (Tuesday). Woody has already started doing “helicopters” even though he can’t leave the box yet. We expect they’ll be running around by the weekend. And the parents are having sex again.
Thursday morning, and we have another egg! Ladyboy laid it yesterday, so we can expect the second one tomorrow. Oddly, this time she chose the other side of the tree pot, on the other side of the small dead tree. Maybe she wants to keep away from us a little more, dunno. ETA for new hatchings is August 16. We’re going to make the effort to go shopping this weekend for a new pot for her, one that may be more comfortable.
Meanwhile, the squabs Woody and Zoe, now 20 and 19 days old, are doing well. Woody looks like he’ll be a Bully clone, while Zoe has a light -brown “toasted marshmallow” look that’s quite pretty. New photos soon.
Unfortunately, five-month-old Emmy still has throat problems. But she seems to function okay and can even eat. We’re monitoring her carefully.
New pictures!
When last we left off, little Rose was still in the flower box. Here she is still on July 2, age 23 days. She really looks different from all the other ones this couple have hatched here.
Two days later, out of the box at age 25 days. White speckles are starting to appear on her face.
Hanging out with Dad at age 27 days. The Bully’s on the new eggs here.
Chillin’ with Dad, age 31 days. And on the same day (July 10), we have Rose and the temple. That last one’s not that good a shot of Rose, but I like the background.
Fresh pidgee! Woody, just hatched on July 11, with Dad looking on (I moved him away so I could take this).
The next day, we have a day-old Woody and a freshly hatched Zoe, with Mom (I can’t move her away, because she stands her ground every time).
Zoe and big-brother Woody at six and seven days, respectively, July 18.
And now this afternoon (Saturday afternoon), taken just a short while ago: A sleepy Woody (front), 22 days old, and sister Zoe, 21 days. Then a family photo, with Woody (right) and Zoe (left) in the flower box, Mom on the new eggs and Dad having a snack. Zoe’s toasted-marshmallow color is very light and doesn’t really come through quite right here, but you can see she’s getting a little iridescence around her neck. Also notice that this time, the eggs have been laid on the other side of the dead tree, presumably to keep farther away from us. And finally, the latest eggs, containing Bo and Lynn, laid on July 30 and August 1. The parents have built a little nicer nest but are still just pikers compared with the elaborate structures that Big and Little Pidgee would build back in the day.
And of course, all the photos can be seen on one page here.
Zoe stays away all day now but comes back every night. Jamie and Emmy too. Emmy seems quite better but not 100%. We’re hoping whatever it is works itself out. Zoe’s fallen out of the flower box twice now, probably in excitement over feeding time as she squeals and flaps her wings. Woody hasn’t left the box yet but seems very curious, craning his neck over the edge, getting up on the edge, looking down … but he can’t quite persuade himself yet to make the big hop. Another day or two.
It’s amazing how pretty they look when they are older, compared to how ugly they look when just hatched.
tl;dr - I think I can be excused, given 36 pages…
It was 105 F here, and I have Mourning (got right this time!) Doves tending hatchlings (about a week old).
I put the nesting box above the patio door, just about 18" below roof line. Since the roof is sloping down, the gutter is about even with the nest. IOW - visibility sucks.
Anyway, I was out yesterday and noticed mom had left, so I grabbed the ladder and took a peak.
It was (two eggs hatched - I’ve found the shell fragments) at the "ball with something hanging off it stage I was expecting better development.
I didn’t disturb it, but us was completely motionless. When mom returned, instead of lowering her head and opening her mouth for the chicks to eat her crop milk, she looked around as if confused, and then pecked at the chick twice.
All has settled, and both parents are nest sitting.
The thought occurred:
It’s 105, and the dumb bird is sitting on the chick - has she managed to kill it by heat stroke or suffocation?
I saw only one chick, even though there were 2 hatched, and I have seen no evidence of dead chick on the ground (it is paved).
Q: what do pigeons do if they find a dead chick in the nest? Will they try to expel it, pick it up and drop it away from the nest, ignore it, abandon nest, what?
I haven’t been watching enough to know what, if any feeding is being done, but they do sit as if protecting a chick.
My understanding is they just leave it to mulch into the nest. 
That’s not an issue on our balcony, of course, and I’ve had to remove a dead squab or two. One had just hatched a few hours before. Since it was in the hottest part of the year, we wondered if it might have been heat, but it could have been ants too, as we noticed some in the vicinity afterward.
We’ve had to remove some unhatched eggs too. As long as at least one egg hatches, the situation appears to be good, but once we had both eggs in a clutch fail to hatch, and Ladyboy the mother was clearly grieving.
I just had another opportunity to look into the nest w/o disturbing an adult.
Both chicks have filled out and are now identifiable as birds, with pinfeathers.
Another week and they’ll be able to flee if I disturb them, and there is a 30’ long swimming pool just 10’ from the nest.
Years ago, I found one fledgling in the pool and pulled it out, took it inside and rinsed off the pool water, and put t back in the nest. Parents didn’t mind my scent on their kid.
Another batch (this is where the platform got sides) one pushed the other out of the nest. The ejected one did not survive. I later found the bully - dead in the spa (which is not visible from indoors). Karma.
No, that’s just a myth about birds abandoning their young due to the scent of humans on them. Particularly pigeons. Ladyboy and The Bully sure look disgruntled when I handle their squabs, but they get over it quickly enough. 
Woody and Zoe are both out of the box now. We didn’t see Zoe jump, but at age 23 days she’s old enough, so I’ll probably leave her be.
Thursday night. Woody and Zoe are 27 and 26 days old. At my favorite stage, where they run around in wide-eyed wonder but can’t fly yet. We’ve caught them stretching their necks to look over the green concrete verge and peek at the outside world. Woody’s definitely a male and will even attack Mama to get at any food she’s eating! I’ve had to give him a light squirt on the butt with the water bottle to make him back off from her. Zoe seems to be a girl, looking feminine. Loves her brother, follows him everywhere.
The Bully is a wonderful father. He stands off to the side and coos at the squabs. First to entice them out of the flower box, then later to fly. He’ll preen them and give them little head massages. Very cute.
Four-month-old Jamie is starting to spend more nights away. Emmy, 5-1/2 months old, seems to have fully recovered from whatever was ailing her throat. If something was stuck in it, it’s finally been swallowed.
New hatchings in about nine days.
Saturday morning and as predicted, little Bo is trying to hatch out of his egg. Expect a new squab by tonight.
Five-week-old Woody and Zoe are still healthy. Woody’s started staying away at night, so he may be gone soon. Zoe still here. Four-and-a-half-month Jamie keeps fighting with her siblings, and we’ve had to chase her away a couple of times because of that. Still think she’s a female though. Small. Emmy still stays here at night but turns six months old next week. I believe that’s about the age of sexual maturity for a pigeon. Hope she finds a mate soon and goes to live someplace else.
Henry and Geri trailed a little mini Henry behind them today when they stopped by for brunch. No question who the father was with that one!
Have you ever counted up how many pidgees have been hatched on the balcony? Between the different sets of parents?
This is an amazing thread.