# baby pigeons left alone?



## christina_t

Hi there!

we have a nest in our balcony and two baby pigeons in it...they must be around 10 days old by now. Everything was going fine until now (parents taking turns keeping them warm, feeding them etc) but today I noticed that the mother did not come at night to stay with the babies. I am really worried they are cold. is this normal behaviour for the mother? are they old enough to stay alone at night? don't they need warmth? Any help would be greatly appreciated! I cannot sleep worrying about the babies...

Many thanks

Christina


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## Lovebirds

christina_t said:


> Hi there!
> 
> we have a nest in our balcony and two baby pigeons in it...they must be around 10 days old by now. Everything was going fine until now (parents taking turns keeping them warm, feeding them etc) but today I noticed that the mother did not come at night to stay with the babies. I am really worried they are cold. is this normal behaviour for the mother? are they old enough to stay alone at night? don't they need warmth? Any help would be greatly appreciated! I cannot sleep worrying about the babies...
> 
> Many thanks
> 
> Christina


Christina, where are you and how cold is it there? It is normal for the parents to leave the babies for periods of time during the day when they reach 10 days old or so, but normally the parents would come back at night and Mom would sit on the nest for a few more days at least. The temp will determine whether these babies will be ok or not.


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## christina_t

many thanks for the prompt reply. I am in the Netherlands and the temperature here is 6 celcius! it is quite cold! what shall i do? it's 2 in the morning here...


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## Lovebirds

I don't know what 6 celcius is but it sounds COLD.........I'm in the US and we use Fahrenheit.........oh well, you could bring the babies in for the night and put them back out early in the morning....or I guess later this morning since it "in the morning" already. LOL..........you don't have to worry about the human smell on the babies. That's a myth. If you get the babies back out in the AM, you can watch to see if the parents come to feed the babies. If they do, that's good. If not, then you've got a whole other set of issues, but they can be dealt with. Just get the babies inside for now. If Mom's not there now, she won't be until daybreak. They don't fly in the dark.


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## flitsnowzoom

It's about 42 degrees F. Brrr cold!


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## christina_t

It's 43 fahrenheit (I think)... where shall i put them in ? a towel? but are they gonna be OK?


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## Lovebirds

They will be ok for now. I don't suppose you know that last time they were fed? Just put them on a towel and cover them lightly with a cloth of some kind. They are old enough to keep warm and actually, 43 isn't that cold. I think they would be ok outside to be honest. That's your call. It won't hurt anything to bring them in for one night. If Mom and/or Dad shows up in the morning to feed them, then I wouldn't really worry about them tomorrow night.


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## Lovebirds

flitsnowzoom said:


> It's about 42 degrees F. Brrr cold!


Now wait a minute......you're from Denver and you think 42 is COLD??? I had babies this age survive below freezing temps back in Jan, Feb and March. 42 isn't cold for a pigeon really.


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## christina_t

I last saw the dad at around 8 (usually the time when mom came), so I guess they were fed at that time.


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## Lovebirds

Ok. That's good. At this age, they don't get fed during the night anyway. So.....if you want, bring them in, put them back in the morning and see what happens then. I was afraid when you first posted that the parents hadn't been back in a while. It sounds like they are just through sitting on these guys during the night. I would expect that they are somewhere near by, but it doesn't matter. Like I said........I think they would be fine, but if it makes you feel better, bring them in.  It really won't hurt a thing.


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## christina_t

when do parents usually stop sitting on the nest? I haven't seen mom today at all...

many thanks for the advice!


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## flitsnowzoom

Lovebirds said:


> Now wait a minute......you're from Denver and you think 42 is COLD??? I had babies this age survive below freezing temps back in Jan, Feb and March. 42 isn't cold for a pigeon really.


Yup, I'm a Texas girl  and still have that nice thin blood.


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## Lovebirds

Well, different sets of parents are different in the way the sit on nests. I have a loft with birds. I have Moms that are still sitting on their babies (or trying to) when they are two weeks old. I've got others that will start leaving them during the day AND at night when they are around 10 to 12 days old. Bare in mind though, we're talking about babies that are being raised in below freezing temps. Temps at 40 degrees or higher are really not too cold for a 10 day old baby. I would keep an eye out and make sure that both parents are feeding these guys. With these feral birds, you never know when something might happen to one of the parents.


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## christina_t

many thanks again! I will keep an eye and post again should any problem arise!


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## Lovebirds

flitsnowzoom said:


> Yup, I'm a Texas girl  and still have that nice thin blood.


OK!! That explains it. I know what you mean. I spent two winters up in MI. I'm from NC. Thought I'd freeze to death. !!


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## Lovebirds

christina_t said:


> many thanks again! I will keep an eye and post again should any problem arise!


You are quite welcome. Good luck.


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## pdpbison

christina_t said:


> Hi there!
> 
> we have a nest in our balcony and two baby pigeons in it...they must be around 10 days old by now. Everything was going fine until now (parents taking turns keeping them warm, feeding them etc) but today I noticed that the mother did not come at night to stay with the babies. I am really worried they are cold. is this normal behaviour for the mother? are they old enough to stay alone at night? don't they need warmth? Any help would be greatly appreciated! I cannot sleep worrying about the babies...
> 
> Many thanks
> 
> Christina




Hi Chrstina,



This is normal behavior for Pigeon parents to do, when in their judgement the Babys are making their own heat well enough.


If you like, you can gently test how they are doing by comparing the underside of one of them, to the underside of your naked wrist...and or by your wrist facing 'up' and pressing it against the underside of the Baby...keeping the Baby upright of course.

If the underside of the Baby feels 'warm' ( warmer than your own body temp, ) then they are doing well in this regard and there is no problem, and there is nothing which needs intervention.



Best wishes!


Phil
Las Vegas


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## mr squeaks

flitsnowzoom said:


> Yup, I'm a Texas girl  and still have that nice thin blood.


I HEAR YOU! 

Also from Texas originally...San Antonio...never got used to COLD!   

Am a true desert lizard and am one of the few who don't complain that much about our summer heat!

I'm at the point now that anything under 70 is nippy...may have to up to 80!!


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## christina_t

OK, the babies are doing just fine! They are warm, their dad comes and feeds them but I have no sign of mom. My husband told me that he saw two birds that looked like mom and dad in a building opposite this morning but I haven't seen mom close to the babies at all today and yesterday. 

Thank you all for the advice. I will try to locate mom. 


*** Just located her!!! *** 



Many many thanks

Christina


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## Lovebirds

christina_t said:


> OK, the babies are doing just fine! They are warm, their dad comes and feeds them but I have no sign of mom. My husband told me that he saw two birds that looked like mom and dad in a building opposite this morning but I haven't seen mom close to the babies at all today and yesterday.
> 
> Thank you all for the advice. I will try to locate mom.
> 
> 
> *** Just located her!!! ***
> 
> 
> 
> Many many thanks
> 
> Christina


Just so you know, when these babies are around 2 weeks old, the parents will start building another nest for the next set of babies. They may or may not nest right there where they are. Once the mother lays the second two eggs, you'll seldom see both parents. One or the other will always be with the new nest, so if one seems to have disappeared, that may be why.


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## christina_t

*update*

Hi again! 

everything is going great! both parents come and feed the babies, the babies are very very cute and now that it is raining here, dad is sitting on top of the babies to protect them. Is this normal? I could have never imagined that pigeons are so good parents! 

Thanks for letting me know about pigeons' habits, I would have freaked out if there was no sign of mom or dad after a week! 

Christina


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## Reti

You're right, most pigeons are great parents, they just love their babies.
I am glad everything is going well with your pigeon family.

Reti


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## docbjb

I have a young one (14 days now) whose parents have all but abandoned him. He will be fed in the morning, when mom comes, but neither parent has been on the nest for almost a week. Baby is doing fine. I was concerned at first as well (it's been 45 at night here in MN, though the baby is in a protected corner of my balcony), but seeing as he is being fed and the parents still come back now and then, it seems to be working out ok. 

Mom and Dad seems to be more interested in making more babies than in taking care of the one they have!


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## pdpbison

docbjb said:


> I have a young one (14 days now) whose parents have all but abandoned him. He will be fed in the morning, when mom comes, but neither parent has been on the nest for almost a week. Baby is doing fine. I was concerned at first as well (it's been 45 at night here in MN, though the baby is in a protected corner of my balcony), but seeing as he is being fed and the parents still come back now and then, it seems to be working out ok.
> 
> Mom and Dad seems to be more interested in making more babies than in taking care of the one they have!


Hi docbjb,


This is the normal usual way of things...and it is fine...

This is their way of taking care of them...positively I mean.


Once the Babys are endothermic, the parents pretty well leave them alone but for feeding them...or maybe protecting them somewhat in occasions of Rain or cold Winds maybe.

Often the parents are watching the Babys from some distance, alert to note anyone intruding, or where they might need to fly over and repulse an intruder.

Too, if the parents just wanted to be sociable with the Babys, felt like just cuddleing and being on them more or less just because it is nice, the Babys would pester them so much asking to be fed 'more', the parents would have no choice but to fly off, since the Babys are already 'full'...yet all wound up about "Oh! Mom or Dad is HERE! Must be FEED TIME!!!!"

Oye...

So, some of this possibly is oweing to how Pigeon Babys behave..!

Night time - or in relative darnkess, they are usually calmer, and less inclined to get so wound up and assertive about being fed.


Lol...

Phil
Las Vegas


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## justice cop

Lovebirds said:


> Christina, where are you and how cold is it there? It is normal for the parents to leave the babies for periods of time during the day when they reach 10 days old or so, but normally the parents would come back at night and Mom would sit on the nest for a few more days at least. The temp will determine whether these babies will be ok or not.


what if they are younger than 10 days old?? because im not sure how old these babies are*


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## Marina B

If it's warm, the parents will stop sitting on them sooner. You can check if there's food in the crops. That way you know they are getting fed.


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## Pigeonsonbalcony

Hi 

It's so stressful when pigeons invade your life....you start to feel sick with worry that the parents have deserted them. We had pigeons on our balcony and 2 were brought up perfectly, the next 2, one was not cared for directly after hatching, but I put it with the other and it then flourished for a few days and then kept getting separated, so I kept having to put it bak with the other so it was not left out. It was very cold at one point and looked like it was dying, so we we brought it in and let it feed from some recommended chick food and it cheered up and spent the night in the airing cupboard, and was cheeping and cheery the next day so I put it back with the mother and it snuggled up with her. Then it rained for 2 days solid and we didn't see either baby until the 3rd day, when the mother got up from the nest. Sadly the baby was dead. I felt so bad for returning the baby to the mother as something went badly wrong. Now in retrospect I should've taken it the rescue centre, I think they could've kept it going. 

Our pigeons are on their third nest now, and the single baby from the nest I mentioned above is about to take it's first flight, which is nice. However we do eventually want our balcony back, and we don't quite know how to tackle this, as they are said to nest all year round if they like where they are.


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