# Is it my fault



## abbysian (Jun 15, 2008)

Hi: I'm just wondering...I'm one of those "pigeons laid eggs on my balcony" people. The blessed event occured back in May '07. Long story short-I've been steadily feeding the mamma and pappa since then. I recently noticed that they appear to have built a nest on the balcony accross from mine, and I think are sitting on newly laid eggs. I thought that they would stop reproducing in the winter months, it is too cold, I don't think the babies will be able to survive. Is it my fault that these pidgies are laying eggs in January because I feed them every day? I hate to see what is going to happen when that owner discovers the nest on his terrace...Should I just stop feeding them and possibly giving them a false sense of hope and security?


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## Pegasus (Feb 6, 2007)

abbysian said:


> Hi: I'm just wondering...I'm one of those "pigeons laid eggs on my balcony" people. The blessed event occured back in May '07. Long story short-I've been steadily feeding the mamma and pappa since then. I recently noticed that they appear to have built a nest on the balcony accross from mine, and I think are sitting on newly laid eggs. I thought that they would stop reproducing in the winter months, it is too cold, I don't think the babies will be able to survive. Is it my fault that these pidgies are laying eggs in January because I feed them every day? I hate to see what is going to happen when that owner discovers the nest on his terrace...Should I just stop feeding them and possibly giving them a false sense of hope and security?


All you can do is talk to the man and see if you can contain the parents and let them sit on the eggs if it possible...Otherwise your neighbor will see it evetually and might throw the eggs away...As you know now, they don't stop breeding unless they are pets of someone really takes care of them not just giving them food...We start breeding since 2nd of Dec. (for me it is)...Some of us have some babies already that hatched sometime last week, mine hatch yesterday ...If they choose to lay the eggs on someones property there is no way you can stop it, unless you're going to build them some type of coop on your balcony that's good enough for a pair (or maybe 2) LOL...


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## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

abbysian said:


> Hi: I'm just wondering...I'm one of those "pigeons laid eggs on my balcony" people. The blessed event occured back in May '07. Long story short-I've been steadily feeding the mamma and pappa since then. I recently noticed that they appear to have built a nest on the balcony accross from mine, and I think are sitting on newly laid eggs. I thought that they would stop reproducing in the winter months, it is too cold, I don't think the babies will be able to survive. Is it my fault that these pidgies are laying eggs in January because I feed them every day? I hate to see what is going to happen when that owner discovers the nest on his terrace...Should I just stop feeding them and possibly giving them a false sense of hope and security?


If possible, I would go to the neighbor and ask him if you can check the eggs. If they are newly laid, candle them and if they haven't started growing yet, or are in the EARLY stages, say 2 or 3 days, I personally would take the egg, throw away the nest and see if you can persuade the pigeons to go else where. You can't just move the nest, they will abandon it and it sounds like the neighbor is going to destroy everything anyway. Not EVERYONE is thrilled about pigeons and the mess that they can make. I'd "fix" things now before the parents or the babies possibly get hurt.


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## SerendipityCA (May 2, 2008)

Piggybacking on this thread, I have a similar problem. There are a number of pigeons that hang around on the roof of our apartment building. A few of them used to live in the lightwells (where the fire escapes were) but the management put mesh across them at the roof level, so they can't get in anymore. I have posted before about the pair that nested on the fire escape on the other side of our building - actually in the building next door, which is a mirror image of our building, so the two lightwells form a square shape. The person who lived there hated them, and when one of the parents was killed by a truck in the driveway, and the baby "fledged" and ended up badly wounded in the carport, I went into her apartment, looked out the window, saw a huge nest on the fire escape (and a dessicated dead baby) and removed both. Then they spray cleaned. They also have mesh all around the bottom of the fire escape which is not hanging free over the ground-level, it is only a foot above the roof of the garage so they think it is an ideal nesting spot.

I live in the identical apartment one building over, and they used to nest under my fire escape, on the gravel on the garage roof. I had plastic astroturf on my fire escape so I created a nice little weatherproof zone for them to raise their babies in.

Since the parent and baby were killed, I have occasionally seen a pair of pigeons sitting on the fire escape where the nest was. But I think they spend a lot more time a few feet away on the fire escape that hangs over our driveway. IOW there is a 10' drop from the "floor" of the bottom level of the fire escape, to the driveway cement. No garage roof, unlike my side of the building. There are lots of pigeon droppings on the cement underneath it. There is a diagonal cross-brace under the fire escape, and the past couple of times I have taken the dog out at 1 am for her last pee in the carport area, I have seen two pigeons huddled together on the cross-brace, which is barely wide enough for two pigeons. I really think these two have paired off and are trying to find a place to nest and have a baby.

I don't think any of the fire escape areas are ideal - I mean, they could be except for the humans who live there! Each fire escape serves three studios and three one-bedroom apartments. The one-bedrooms are no problem, because only their kitchen and bathroom windows face the fire escape, and people keep their windows closed. But the studios have their main living quarters on the fire escape, so they would see pigeons out there and would be bothered. In fact, that is why the mesh was put up in the first place, because people complained.

There is an old Italian widow two doors down, very friendly with me, who lives in a duplex she owns. She and her husband used to keep a bird in a cage in the back yard. She has a very bird-friendly yard. I wonder whether she'd let me build a pigeon coop there - and whether the pigeons would find and use it?

I would really like to provide a safe place for them to do that. Is there a book or something I can read about creating a nesting area for a mated pair?


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