- Aug 10, 2016
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We have 2 adult pigeons since last spring. They tried a few times to lay and sit on eggs but only got their first successful hatch in December, in the middle of wintry temperatures and weather. We lost that batch to winter weather conditions.
We had our 2nd brood of baby pigeons in early February. The babies lived long enough to where they came out of the nest, but unfortunately we lost one of the siblings to some unexpected death (he just couldn't walk anymore one day and died within 24 hours later). So forward a few more weeks, we have a healthy youngster, having grown up by itself without any sibling.
In late March and early April, I noticed that the child pigeon would hang around and sleep on top of the nesting box (typical chicken-looking nest box made from wood). But then around the time that the parents began sitting on their current eggs in early April, I noticed the baby was no longer sleeping there and in fact, was in the farthest corner away from the nesting area and wondered about it. It wasn't until a few weeks later that I noticed, it was because the dad was now chasing it away.
Since this is the first baby pigeon that has reached this age, this is also the first time I'm seeing this behavior. My question is, is it being chased away because the parents are sitting on a new batch of eggs? Or is it because it has now reached an age enough to where the dad considers it a threat to his manliness, no matter if it was his own kid or not? (I have not been able to determine if the child is a male or female).
As an update, this 3rd batch of eggs was hatched successfully and the new set of babies have their feathers starting to grow out. So the pigeon home that used to handle 2 adults just fine since last spring, is probably due to be reconsidered for a home for more pigeons.
We had our 2nd brood of baby pigeons in early February. The babies lived long enough to where they came out of the nest, but unfortunately we lost one of the siblings to some unexpected death (he just couldn't walk anymore one day and died within 24 hours later). So forward a few more weeks, we have a healthy youngster, having grown up by itself without any sibling.
In late March and early April, I noticed that the child pigeon would hang around and sleep on top of the nesting box (typical chicken-looking nest box made from wood). But then around the time that the parents began sitting on their current eggs in early April, I noticed the baby was no longer sleeping there and in fact, was in the farthest corner away from the nesting area and wondered about it. It wasn't until a few weeks later that I noticed, it was because the dad was now chasing it away.
Since this is the first baby pigeon that has reached this age, this is also the first time I'm seeing this behavior. My question is, is it being chased away because the parents are sitting on a new batch of eggs? Or is it because it has now reached an age enough to where the dad considers it a threat to his manliness, no matter if it was his own kid or not? (I have not been able to determine if the child is a male or female).
As an update, this 3rd batch of eggs was hatched successfully and the new set of babies have their feathers starting to grow out. So the pigeon home that used to handle 2 adults just fine since last spring, is probably due to be reconsidered for a home for more pigeons.
