# Pigeons & Covered Cages - Vision?



## valeri (Sep 6, 2009)

Thanks in advance -- as always -- for your kind help!

On Chauncey's cage, I have black cotton fabric I use to cover the back portion where he sleeps. It covers a foot on either side and the entire back area which makes for sort of a box environment. He seems to like that. (The rest of the cage is open.)

Tonight, after he jumped up on his back perch to sleep, I put a towel over the front of the cage to block out light where I'm working. It's a white towel so there's some filtered light, it's not completely dark. And there's definitely enough ventilation.

I heard him jump down, and then I heard a crash. I looked inside just in time to see Chauncey recovering from hitting the bottom of the back shelf. He has an 8-inch deep wooden shelf in the back that he likes to sleep on. And he jumped underneath it and hit it instead of jumping up on it.

As I was removing the towel, he tried again and did the same thing. 

Now I'm nervous to cover his cage. I don't want him to hurt himself! Is that a normal visual/spacial issue for a pigeon? I removed the towel and he was able to jump up. But he's getting too much light in this room and tonight, unfortunately, I'm on deadline.

Advice on light/cover much appreciated.


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## Naunnie (Sep 2, 2009)

Hey Valeri, From what I've read, they have No night vision. Leave the white cloth off. He knows you are working in there. May be why he fell. He can sleep while you work with the dark cloth blocking out some of the light. If you working this late is different, a little light will be better for him. My birds are in the main part of the house. I do cover them at night, but I also leave a light on, (dimmed) just in case someone stirs during the night, they don't have to suddenly go from dark to "who turned on the light"!!


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## valeri (Sep 6, 2009)

Thanks, Naunnie. I guess I'll have to learn how much light is enough for Chauncey -- and figure out a system when I'm working late like tonight. 

Since he came to live with us, we've been shutting down the computers around 9p (when he goes to bed) and closing off the room. It's dark when we close it off! He must be knocking his head regularly in that room! I'll have to rethink this. 

When I looked in tonight (with the towel over the cage) it looked like plenty of light to me -- more than he's had during the night. Poor guy. I wonder how often he's been, as my husband would say, cold-cocked.


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## jameswaller (Nov 4, 2008)

*night lite*



Naunnie said:


> Hey Valeri, From what I've read, they have No night vision. Leave the white cloth off. He knows you are working in there. May be why he fell. He can sleep while you work with the dark cloth blocking out some of the light. If you working this late is different, a little light will be better for him. My birds are in the main part of the house. I do cover them at night, but I also leave a light on, (dimmed) just in case someone stirs during the night, they don't have to suddenly go from dark to "who turned on the light"!!


main part of the house,,alright,,my bedroom i have three nesting pairs,,and rabbit habitat,,because the rabbit is nocturnal there are three night lites,,it also allows midnight bathes for the pigeons,,the rabbit has a large window box 4ftx2ftx2ft with slider window--which he uses-to go outside whenever he desires...great thread...sincerely james waller


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## valeri (Sep 6, 2009)

Thanks, James. I put a couple of night lites in Chauncey's room last night, but they're the cool LED style of light. I think I'll get a warmer toned bulb which tends to give off a bit more ambient light. I'm grateful for the advice! I just wasn't thinking about this until I saw him bump his head.

How dark does it have to be for them to sleep? What would be an intrusive amount of light?


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## spirit wings (Mar 29, 2008)

why would he move around when it is roosting time? he must want to move because there is light in the room.


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## valeri (Sep 6, 2009)

spirit wings said:


> why would he move around when it is roosting time? he must want to move because there is light in the room.


His cage is in our home office/dining room. I say "dining room" because technically that's what it's supposed to be. But it's where we work at home. We have a small space.

I know it's not ideal. It's the best we can do right now for our lovely little rescue. If we weren't renting in an apartment we'd build him an outside roost and aviary in a second. Can't tell you how much we'd like him to have a more natural situation like that.

Short of that, I'm trying to find the best workarounds for him and for us. We usually leave him in a dark room from 9pm until we get up in the morning. I've heard him jump around his cage around 3am or 4am. It's way before sunrise so I'm not sure why he's up. And now I figure he's probably battering himself because he can't see in that dark room.

So, if I have to work, like last night, do I use complete black-out cover? Or leave it open? I don't have too many options, although I could lug my mac and cables into the kitchen. I'll do that if that's best.


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## SPedigrees (Oct 27, 2004)

I'm not sure about pigeon's night vision. I have read about some pigeon fanciers who have some of their birds on a night time flight schedule. I wish I had asked questions to learn why they did this. In any event pigeons can and do fly at night. 

Also, in cities, there is always ambient noise and light, so pigeons can certainly adapt to both. Still, in their natural habitat, on rock cliffs in remote areas of the British Isles, there is neither, and presumably pigeons there roosted at night when it was dark, and looked for food in the daylight hours. The sound of the wind and the ocean below was probably not too different from the sounds of a city as heard from rooftops.

My bird never has complete darkness because we have those electric candles (sold at Christmastime) in each of the 3 windows in the room she's in, 24/7. I have similar night lights all through the house. I dislike total darkness myself, so that is how our house is set up; no room is ever completely dark unless the power is out. Hedwig seems to sleep well enough.


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## valeri (Sep 6, 2009)

I like the electric candle idea. Are they the rechargeable ones that come out of their pods? Thanks for the reply.


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## SPedigrees (Oct 27, 2004)

Hi Valeri. No mine are the electric plug in variety, although I suppose rechargables would work too. They take little 7 watt clear lightbulbs. (Well that is what I use, any color 7 watt bulb would work, frosted or clear.) They look nice in the windows from outside a house too!

I should mention that the candles I have are very lightweight, and for safety so they do not fall or get knocked onto the floor, I drilled two holes in each windowsill and similar holes through the base of each candle to attach them with twist ties firmly to each sill. The lack of a weighted base is one of their flaws. (I think you said you are renting, but you could always patch the holes with wood putty and touch up with paint before moving, and your landlord would likely never know.)


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## spirit wings (Mar 29, 2008)

well if he moves around in the dark and in the semi light, then I would leave it light so atleast he can see without bonking his head...thats all I can think of. I guess you will have to play around with it to see how much light he needs, because sounds like he moves around anyway, dark or light. mine are in a loft so I do not know if they move or bonk their heads, I just assumed they kept still till sunrise.


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## SPedigrees (Oct 27, 2004)

I did think of one thing, Valeri, which is that my bird has been with us for 6 years, in the same room with the same cage, whereas yours is still a newcomer and maybe not as used to his surroundings yet. That might make a difference. Maybe he wakes up and is confused about where he is at first.

My rat (like many others on this forum I have one of those too) makes a lot of noise during the night scuffling around her cage, but I never hear a peep from the pidge unless I go into her room and turn on a brighter light.


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## spirit wings (Mar 29, 2008)

SPedigrees said:


> I did think of one thing, Valeri, which is that my bird has been with us for 6 years, in the same room with the same cage, whereas yours is still a newcomer and maybe not as used to his surroundings yet. That might make a difference. Maybe he wakes up and is confused about where he is at first.
> 
> My rat (like many others on this forum I have one of those too) makes a lot of noise during the night scuffling around her cage, but I never hear a peep from the pidge unless I go into her room and turn on a brighter light.


Rats are nocturnal, they are active at night. pigeons are not...supposed to be anyway, unless there is light.


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## valeri (Sep 6, 2009)

Thanks, all. Will be working on this.


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## Charis (Feb 11, 2007)

What time do you usually turn out the light at night? My Pigeons are up well after dark. They go to sleep when I do.


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## valeri (Sep 6, 2009)

Charis said:


> What time do you usually turn out the light at night? My Pigeons are up well after dark. They go to sleep when I do.


Interesting. Well, I usually turn the light off at 9pm-ish. He'd been jumping on his back perch around that time and I figured he wanted to go to sleep. But the last few nights he's been up later. How late do you stay up? I'm new to the bird-in-the-house life and thought I'd be doing him a disservice by keeping him up.


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## Charis (Feb 11, 2007)

valeri said:


> Interesting. Well, I usually turn the light off at 9pm-ish. He'd been jumping on his back perch around that time and I figured he wanted to go to sleep. But the last few nights he's been up later. How late do you stay up? I'm new to the bird-in-the-house life and thought I'd be doing him a disservice by keeping him up.


He may be afarid he's missing something if you try to put him to bed and you are still up and doing stuff.
Lights out for my birds that are in the house are between 9-10pm. I do cover the back and sides of the cage but leave the front open. I also leave on a night light...the kind you plug into an outlet.


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## Tamara21 (Jun 24, 2009)

Petey can stay up very late...he usually is up if we are up...but I have noticed he will take naps here and there as he needs them...at around 10 I cover up his cage except the front and leave the door open if he wants to go in...but he never does...he's a night and morning owl!! LOL...The only time I can know for sure he will fall asleep is after a bath when he is lounging....he is out like a light!


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## valeri (Sep 6, 2009)

Wow, very helpful Charis and Tamara! I had always learned that birds need to keep a sundown to sunrise schedule, so I thought I might be harming Chauncey in keeping him up. But he DOES seem to like being up with us! His cage is in the office, which is adjacent to our living room. He can hear us in there in the evenings and will sometimes wake up and coo. 

Last night, I left his cage uncovered (except for the back and part of the sides). He slept on the floor of the cage where he could see me and the kitty in the living room . . . for a while. Then he retreated to his back perch. But my being up didn't seem to disturb him.

*Edited to Add:* I've been wondering about Chauncey's vision in general. He gets around our room very well, but in new situations -- like when we've let him in our living room -- he's made a few mistakes that I wondered about at the time. Scared me a bit. So I let him roam about the office where he knows his way. Of course, I can't imagine being a bird trying to navigate the interior of an apartment with off-white walls! It's got to be confusing.

Tonight, before the sun went down, it was time to go in the cage for dinner. There was plenty of light -- although not bright daylight -- but he really seemed to be struggling to see his flying path from the bookshelf. I don't know what "normal" pigeon vision is like. And I can't read his mind -- could be something else entirely. Would it be possible for a senior racing pigeon to have some deteriorating vision? (We'll be taking him to a good bird vet in the next couple of months. Maybe that's something they can check.)


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