# Young Pigeon - No sign of parents



## INEEDADVICE (Sep 4, 2015)

Hey everyone. Over the summer two pigeons have built a nest in my back garden in a small tree. I live in Ireland and we have plenty of pigeons flying around. Two baby pigeons were hatched recently. We left the nest alone and the parents took care of the little birds.

However, I have not seen any adult pigeons flying in and out of the tree recently. Does anybody know what times baby pigeons get fed at?

Now, to make matters worse we live in an estate with plenty of cats. However one that lives nearby is a hunter and, unfortunately, decided to kill one of the baby pigeons. I stopped the cat once before and it ran away. However it must have attacked in the night or early morning. I have blocked the entry from the gate but the nest is still accessible and the current baby is still at risk.

I have left a bowl of water on the ground and porridge oats mixed with water for the pigeon in case it isn't being fed by the parents. It is near impossible for me to reach the bird. I have managed to put a small bit of bread in it's nest, but I am aware that it does not have the nutrition needed for the bird. The bird has walked out onto one of the trees branches and has decided to sleep out of it's nest for the night. Do you think it's considering flying?

Sorry for the long post. I just need some advice! Thanks!

P.S the bird has hardly any yellow feathers on it's head anymore, but it's feathers are still quite fluffy if that helps indicate an age.


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## INEEDADVICE (Sep 4, 2015)

Here is a photo of the bird.. He's too far away for a good angle of him but he is certainly quite big!


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

I wouldn't put any food on the ground for him. You are just calling him down to the ground where the cats can more easily get him. The parents are most likely feeding him and you just haven't seen them. He should be flying soon. 
How do you know that the cats got the other baby. 
A better way to protect him would be to put something around the bottom of the tree so that the cats couldn't climb the tree.


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## cwebster (Dec 11, 2010)

Agree with Jay3. You don't want to make it easier for the cats to catch him.


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## CBL (May 13, 2014)

Keep a close eye on this youngster and he may either be starved out of the nest soon if parents dont come back or have gone to nest elsewhere or have come to any harm. If so, he will end up on the ground fluffed and hungry. So keep an eye, if u see this and dont see food in crop nor see any parents, then u may have to intervene before a predator gets him.

Surf our site here on how to feed fledglings or how to feed a pigeon that wont eat and be ready to help if needed, thats all u can do for now. If you know for sure that the parents are gone for good and this bird is suffereing for food, u may have to try to get him from tree. They can come as early as just before first light and feed the bird before you get up, but they should be feeding him at least twice a day at this age. So if u dont see them EVER, you may have to get ahold of him and help out. Be prepared with knowledge of how to feed and house these birds, read this site.......link..
http://www.pigeonrescue.co.uk/caringforababypigeon.htm


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## INEEDADVICE (Sep 4, 2015)

I know it was killed by the cat because the poor bird was lying on the ground in our garden. The cat was just out to kill and not to eat. There's a trail of pigeon feathers to where this cat lives.

The nest is built in the corner of our garden where two walls intersect so the cat can easily get onto the tree from them. I will block the bottom of the tree somehow but I don't think the cat can be stopped. i'll just have to try to chase it away. I found a rescue place nearby that takes pigeons if they're in danger of cats.

There was one pigeon on the roof of our house for about half an hour yesterday evening but it never came down to feed the bird. I will check if the bird haa moved back to it's nest now. The parents have been very caring up until now so I can't believe they would just abandon the baby.

Will keep you all updated. Thanks for the help


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## INEEDADVICE (Sep 4, 2015)

The bird has returned to the nest, although he was on the branch half an hour ago which he had slept on all night. So he's walking okay, but no flying. I don't think he has any injuries from the cat attack - he can flap his wings when i get too close and he was sorting his yesterday so that's good. 

I'm just going to assume the parents are feeding him when I'm not around. If he leaves his nest in search of food I will definitely feed him. I took the porridge and water away.

On average what age do they begin flying? And do the parents usually help? I thought he was going to fly last night when he left the nest, it was very exciting 😊


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## John_D (Jan 24, 2002)

Wood pigeons often begin to fly when they are only 28 days old, but they are not fully fledged and ready to go until a week to ten days later.


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

Anyway you could put balled up wire or something like that on the wall near the tree to stop the cat from accessing the tree from there? Chicken wire all scrunched up would work.
Seems odd to see pigeons nesting in trees. Here they don't do that. They like ledges and such. We don't have wood pigeons. But out mourning doves will nest in our fir and spruce trees. I have had to build the most ridiculous looking things at the bottom of some of our trees when they do that so that our dogs couldn't get them, or the feral cats that on occasion get into our fenced in back yard. Looked like a junk pile at the bottom of a tree. LOL.


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## INEEDADVICE (Sep 4, 2015)

Good news! A parent just entered the nest and the baby was fed a large amount! He is alone again now flying between branches and getting higher up the tree. I managed to get a blurry picture without disturbing.

I'm outside with my dog now who is recovering from a broken leg. Hopefully He will help keep the cat away too. He won't hurt the bird but I have noticed him being a little jealous of the attention we give the pigeons! 

So my main goal is to fix the cat issue now, thanks for the suggestions I'll see what I can do 

I've noticed lots of pigeon feathers near trees close by it seems to be the norm here! The tree next to pigeons has two robin nests in it so the garden's very lively lately!


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## INEEDADVICE (Sep 4, 2015)

Best shot I can get of the guy.. His feather's are great!


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## cwebster (Dec 11, 2010)

Lovely little guy! So glad to hear his parents are feeding him.


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

Nice to have all the birds nesting in your yard. We have baths and feeders and houses so have a lot of bird activity also. It's very relaxing sitting outside with all the comings and goings. Nice shot of the pigeon.


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## INEEDADVICE (Sep 4, 2015)

Hi guys, I'm back with a few more questions! 

The bird was in the nest still for about two days after I posted last. Since then I haven't seen it at all! No baby in sight. There was a grown pigeon in my garden at one stage standing around for awhile (could have been a parent, but who knows!). Since then there has been no activity, no pigeons, nothing. I don't know what this means.. I just hope that the baby is okay and safe (no remains around my garden like it's sibling)

I'm planning on knocking the nest down soon just in case the parents return to the nest.. it is not in a safe location unfortunately. Do you think it's safe to knock it now or will I leave it another two weeks? 

Thanks.


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## kiddy (Feb 5, 2015)

Hi, 
If you haven't seen the baby since a week or so he must have left the nest and flown. You can dismantle the nest if you think it is not safe and don't want them to nest further at that place. 
Do you think he was more than a month old?


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## INEEDADVICE (Sep 4, 2015)

I'd say he was roughly 25 days old, but i'm not exactly certain when they hatched. I'll presume he's gone then! Thanks


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## kiddy (Feb 5, 2015)

Yes most likely he is gone then. They start leaving the nest at around 30 days, may be a bit less or more and can leave any day after that. They may come again but won't need the nest to stay because they are grown up.


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