Resident of Baltimore Maryland, Paerki has documented life for the pigeons in his windowbox in recent blog posts.  He allowed us to excerpt parts of those posts:

The New Arrival

Yeah! One of the eggs hatched! I now have a little hatchling in the nest. It is so precious, tiny, hairy, delicate and absolutely amazing. Life in the animal kingdom is just incredible.
During the past couple of weeks, when I get up in the morning I always take a peek to see which parent is on the nest. I always catch the male flying in for the day shift. This morning, I was surprised to see this little hatchling lying in the nest next to the second egg, which has yet to hatch. It was absolutely phenomenal!
Both parents are taking turns keeping this new life force warm and fed. There is constant feeding, which is every 15 minutes. The delicate hatchling lifts its head, and the mother puts her beak into its mouth feeding it pigeon milk. Yes, it sounds disgusting, but to see it up close and personal is just strangely beautiful. The parents are now performing rotating shifts every two hours. They were doing nest maintenance this morning. They removed some of the shell fragments and the male brought back some new twigs. As always, they pass the twigs between their beaks and the female lays them in the nest.
Another interesting observation, there is a lot of singing from other birds. There are many robins, finches and cardinals that live in the trees outside my home. I am hearing an unusual amount of song. It might just be a coincidence, but I will call it the song of life.
A bond between a parent and child is amazing. Regardless of it being human or animal, in this case, pigeons, it is still a bond to respect, rejoice and appreciate. Nature, no matter the form, is guaranteed to be eye-catching, mind blowing and absolutely heartwarming.

 

The videos above were taken on September 17, 2008. Enjoy! - paerki :)

Monday, September 1, 2008

A New View Of Pigeons

I was sitting in my living room on August 30, 2008 when I noticed two pigeons sitting in my flower box. As I sat on the couch, I found myself studying these two magnificent creatures. It was interesting to see the chorography between the two. I was not sure what was going on at first, but soon discovered they were building a nest.

I was able to figure out the sex of each pigeon. The male is much larger than the female. As the female rested in the flower box, the male would fly away and come back every ten times over the course of two hours with a twig in his beak. He would then pass the twig to the female; she would receive it in her beak and drop it below her.

There is no strategy when building the nest. Many birds create these beautifully saucer shaped nests that can withstand the elements. However, pigeons build shallow unstructured nests.

Shortly after, the two pigeons sat together. On occasion the male will groom the female. When dusk moved in, the male flew away and the female kept the eggs warm throughout the evening and night.

On August 31st, I noticed the male returning to keep the eggs warm. This dance continued throughout the day. My observations tell me that the female lies on the eggs longer than the male. She also does the nightshift without any help from the male. They no longer rest together in the nest. It all comes down to a schedule. I am estimating that the male lies on the eggs five different times throughout the day and early evening with the resting time being 1 to 2 hours.

It's September 1, 2008, and the ritual continues. Today I was able to see the eggs. They are very small, a bright white and look very delicate.

People see pigeons and think they are dirty and disgusting. I must admit I had the same thoughts. However, when you see what I am witnessing it shifts your whole perspective. Pigeons are living creatures just like us. They must brave the elements and learn to adapt and survive. They communicate with each other. There is so much to learn from pigeons and birds in general.

Because of this event, I became more curious to learn about the pigeon. Thus, I did a web search and found some interesting facts.

Pigeons have been around longer than humans. They are 13 inches in length from bill to tail and weigh less than a pound. Males are slightly bigger than females. A female adult pigeon is called a “Hen”, an adult male a “Cock”, a newly hatched pigeon just a few days old is called a “Hatchling”, and a “Squab” is a young pigeon from 1 to 30 days old. When ready to leave its nest, a squab can sometimes weigh more than its parents. A young bird that is learning to eat is called a “Peeper or Squeaker”, a bird that is ready to fly or that has just taken its first flight is called a “Fledgling” and a bird out of its nest and flying but less than eight months old is called a “Juvenile”.

Pigeons usually construct their nests on ledges that resemble cliffs, structures under bridges and in my case, flower boxes in the city. Nests are built with small twigs. A cock brings the nesting material to his mate, one piece at a time and she builds the nest.

Pigeons lay, usually, two white eggs. The parents take turns keeping the eggs warm. Males usually stay on the nest during the day, females, at night. Eggs take about 18 days to hatch. Good grief … Talk about anxiety!

To learn more interesting facts about pigeons, check out the following website: http://www.birds.cornell.edu/pigeonwatch/resources/cool-facts-about-pigeons

Be sure to check back to read my update on the new hatchlings. I hope to capture some video too … Easier said than done. Enjoy! - paerki :)

Sunday, September 7, 2008

I am so happy! My pigeons weathered tropical storm Hannah with great success. I attempted to build a structure to protect the pigeons from the heavy rain and wind gusts. Unfortunately, I was unsuccessful. I took my shower curtain from my bathroom and attempted to drape it in front of the flowerbox for protection. (I was going to purchase a new one, but my friend Tina suggested I use the old one because of the pungent smell and chemicals in a new shower curtain … Thank you for the tip, Tina!)

There were two huge openings for the pigeons to enter on either side. Unfortunately, the mother was scared and could not figure out how to get inside the enclosure. I could tell the mother was stressing as her wings kept hitting the plastic. Her stress increased and mine did too. After ten minutes of hoping and praying and with no success, I removed the plastic and the mother instantaneously returned to the nest to keep her eggs warm. Ah, what a sigh of relief for me, and for the mother too, I am sure.

I went to bed sad, nervous, scared, and unsure and with a big prayer in my heart and mind. Some might say, “They are just pigeons”, but to me they are something more. They are living creatures just like us … making it through a changing and unforgiving world. That is why we must help each other, if and when we can. Because I witnessed the pigeons building the nest, dropping their eggs and now the rotating schedule of keeping the eggs warm, I think it is my duty to help if I can. My friend Michael said to me that nature might need to take its course. I had the same thought even before Michael spoke. Unfortunately, my mind and heart would not give in. I did draw the curtains on my living room window so I could not see the pigeons. I just knew I could not handle seeing the pigeons abandoning the nest, laying in the nest getting wet or the wind sweeping it all away. Yes, I did take a few peeks, and nature was taking its course, as the rain and wind came and went.

My heart was full when the rains ceased, the wind died down and I opened the curtains to see the mother doing what she does best, protecting and keeping her eggs warm. I can’t begin to tell you how happy I felt.

The video below is of the father pigeon. He is sitting on a ledge across from the nest while the mother sits on the nest during one of the rain showers. However, the two of them were amazing at taking turns at keeping the eggs warm during the storm.

The next video is from September 7, 2008 in the early AM. The mother was out looking for twigs. She would bring them back to the nest and the father who was taking care of the nest would help rebuild what Mother Nature tried to take away.

More rain is expected later in the week, but nothing like tropical storm Hannah. There is no doubt in my mind that the pigeons will make it through. They are very resilient, and there is much for us to learn. I hope my next post will be about the hatching of the eggs. Keep your fingers crossed.