# Nest On Condo Balcony: Need Help With Pigeon Life Cycle



## jbbadboy (Jul 6, 2008)

Hello all! 

I'm a new member looking for some information and help. We have a pigeon nest on our balcony with 2 eggs in it. The smart pigeons built the nest soon after my dad (who is always on the balcony having a smoke) went away on a 3-month vacation in the beginning of June! 

Anyway, as far as I can tell it's been 2 to 2 and a half weeks and no sign of hatching yet. It should be any day now! We can't tell which parent is sitting on the nest but have named the pigeon Penny. 

My brother and I are willing to let the baby pigeons be raised to adulthood and then fly away. However, when dad comes back he'll want his smoking area back and will definitely not share it with Penny and the family. If I've read correctly the squabs should hatch any day now and will reach full maturation in about 5-6 weeks, correct? This would be perfect because dad comes back home in about 7 weeks time. 

Is there anything that we can do to discourage the hatching of another pair of eggs before the current squabs are fully mature and on their own? I'd love to be able to watch a family raise the young then have them all move on with no evidence (other than a few pictures maybe  ) to show a nest ever existed. 

Looking forward to any help you can provide! Thanks!


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## learning (May 19, 2006)

Typically, when these eggs hatch, the parents will wait about 10 days or so and then the hen will lay another round of eggs. At this point the cock will do a lot of the raising of the first round. The hen will be more preoccupied with her eggs. The way to break the cycle would be to put dummy eggs under the hen after she lays the second round. They will sit these for 18 days or so before giving them up.

One thing to keep in mind is that they will start looking for a place to put their second nest about the time the first babies are a few days old. They will not use the same nest they used for the first set of babies. They will want to keep it close to the first so my guess is that you will have two nests on your balcony before long. 

Hope this helps.

Dan


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## jbbadboy (Jul 6, 2008)

learning said:


> Typically, when these eggs hatch, the parents will wait about 10 days or so and then the hen will lay another round of eggs. At this point the cock will do a lot of the raising of the first round. The hen will be more preoccupied with her eggs. The way to break the cycle would be to put dummy eggs under the hen after she lays the second round. They will sit these for 18 days or so before giving them up.
> 
> One thing to keep in mind is that they will start looking for a place to put their second nest about the time the first babies are a few days old. They will not use the same nest they used for the first set of babies. They will want to keep it close to the first so my guess is that you will have two nests on your balcony before long.
> 
> ...


Thanks, that does help! So basically we can just keep an eye out for any 2nd nest on the balcony and make sure that it doesn't get built, right? If that's the case then I'm assuming they will end up making a second nest elsewhere, correct? 

Also, is it detrimental to disturb the pigeons? We can see them when we open up the blinds and they don't leave but if we open up the balcony door the parent flies off to the building across the lane, watches and waits until we go back inside before returning, usually within a couple of minutes. I just want to make sure it's ok to go out on the balcony to take a quick picture or two of the nest with the squabs in them without harming them. 

Thanks!


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## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

jbbadboy said:


> Thanks, that does help! So basically we can just keep an eye out for any 2nd nest on the balcony and make sure that it doesn't get built, right? If that's the case then I'm assuming they will end up making a second nest elsewhere, correct?
> 
> Also, is it detrimental to disturb the pigeons? We can see them when we open up the blinds and they don't leave but if we open up the balcony door the parent flies off to the building across the lane, watches and waits until we go back inside before returning, usually within a couple of minutes. I just want to make sure it's ok to go out on the balcony to take a quick picture or two of the nest with the squabs in them without harming them.
> 
> Thanks!


I would suggest that the less disturbance, the better, right now. Especially since it seems that the eggs would be hatching any day now. And once the babies are hatched, they are very tiny and need to be kept covered by the parents as they can't maintain their body temperature at such a young age. You could get one or two pictures, but I wouldn't make it a habit of disturbing them at the very beginning. Once the babies are around 8 to 10 days old, you'll see the parents start to spend more and more time away from the nest and at that time, you'll be able to get lots of pictures.


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## jbbadboy (Jul 6, 2008)

Thanks!

As of this afternoon we still have 2 eggs in the nest. I hope everything is ok.


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## jbbadboy (Jul 6, 2008)

Today one of the eggs was well away from the nest and in the middle of the balcony. At most it could have been there for 2 hours. I picked it up and placed it back in the nest where it has remained. I hope things are ok!


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## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

jbbadboy said:


> Today one of the eggs was well away from the nest and in the middle of the balcony. At most it could have been there for 2 hours. I picked it up and placed it back in the nest where it has remained. I hope things are ok!


Hopefully it will be ok. Sometimes, these pigeon parents know things that we don't know.........like the eggs aren't fertile or there's something wrong with the baby. What kind of nest did they build? Is it IN something or just some twigs arranged in a hap hazard way on the floor?


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## jbbadboy (Jul 6, 2008)

The nest looks to be made of tree needles/dried grass/twigs in a circular fashion built in the corner of the balcony but the eggs are sitting on the floor. The balcony is made of cement (no railing) so there is no chance of the eggs or squabs falling over. Unfortunately, as insulated as the nest location is to the sun (I don't believe the sun ever shines directly on the nest, though it does come close) and the wind it is in a place where rain water falls. Showers have just rolled through the area but "Penny" continues to sit on the nest with both eggs underneath.


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## jbbadboy (Jul 6, 2008)

I had to add a little update. I just came home from work and checked on "Penny". The nest has been moved over so it's not right in the corner and one of the eggs was once again in the middle of the balcony, about 2 feet away from the nest, fully intact. I understand that it's probably not going to hatch but I still had to put it back in the nest, a sort of 3rd and last chance at the possibility of life. Should I continue to place it back in the nest or leave it in the middle of the balcony or discard it? 

The other egg however looks like it is cracking! I didn't want to have Penny away from the nest for very long so I quickly took a couple of photos and retreated back inside. Penny was back before I could even close the balcony door this time!

Looks like we're going to have at least one squab! Is there anything I should be looking for? What can we expect to see in the coming days and weeks?


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## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

jbbadboy said:


> I had to add a little update. I just came home from work and checked on "Penny". The nest has been moved over so it's not right in the corner and one of the eggs was once again in the middle of the balcony, about 2 feet away from the nest, fully intact. I understand that it's probably not going to hatch but I still had to put it back in the nest, a sort of 3rd and last chance at the possibility of life. Should I continue to place it back in the nest or leave it in the middle of the balcony or discard it?
> 
> The other egg however looks like it is cracking! I didn't want to have Penny away from the nest for very long so I quickly took a couple of photos and retreated back inside. Penny was back before I could even close the balcony door this time!
> 
> Looks like we're going to have at least one squab! Is there anything I should be looking for? What can we expect to see in the coming days and weeks?


More than likely, the one egg won't hatch. You can continue to put it back and if after a couple of days, one has hatched and one hasn't, then you can discard it.
For now, just watch. The baby will hatch and Mom and Dad will sit on it 24/7 as long as they aren't disturbed. I'm thinking that at some point, some sort of nest is going to have to be put in place, or you'll wind up with a baby that has what we call "splayed or spraddled legs"....which means that while they are growing, without a REAL nest, their legs don't stay tucked up under thier body. They start spredding out to the sides and grow that way, making it impossible for the baby to walk. 
That will have to be dealt with later though. You don't want to move or disturb anything right now, or the parents might possibly abandon the baby. 
The parents know what they are doing, so it's best to just observe and let them do their job. 
When did you say your Dad is coming back? You know this baby or babies are going to be around now, for at least 6 weeks.


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## jbbadboy (Jul 6, 2008)

Dad will be back September 3rd so we've got 6-7 weeks to play with right now. Is that enough time for a squab to mature? 

The nest still looks like a nest, only it has shifted about 6 inches away from the corner but is still along a wall. Not sure how or why it was done, though the nest has moved closer to a small balcony drainage hole. 

I will check things out tomorrow to see what progress there has been. If possible, maybe I will post a few pictures. Thanks!


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## philodice (Sep 30, 2007)

That is perfect, you should be able to enjoy your new neighbor and watch him grow.


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## jbbadboy (Jul 6, 2008)

Very puzzling behaviour!?! It seems that "Penny" has completed the shift of the nest away from the corner of the balcony but is sitting back in the corner again. No sign of the 2 eggs which I assume are underneath her. Could she just be re-creating the nest? As it stands now there isn't much nest material around where she is sitting. I'm going to sit back and wait to see what happens next, though my first instinct is to re-create the nest in the corner for her. 

Seems strange to me.


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## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

jbbadboy said:


> Very puzzling behaviour!?! It seems that "Penny" has completed the shift of the nest away from the corner of the balcony but is sitting back in the corner again. No sign of the 2 eggs which I assume are underneath her. Could she just be re-creating the nest? As it stands now there isn't much nest material around where she is sitting. I'm going to sit back and wait to see what happens next, though my first instinct is to re-create the nest in the corner for her.
> 
> Seems strange to me.


I'm not sure I understand? Are you saying the whole nest has been moved but the bird is sitting where the nest USED to be? 
Pictures would help a great deal.


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## jbbadboy (Jul 6, 2008)

Yes, it seems that way, although there is some nesting twigs/needles close to her as well. No sign of the eggs which seem to be underneath her. The problem is that I cannot take any clear pictures without opening the balcony sliding doors, which ultimately makes her fly off to the adjacent building and I'm not sure that's a good idea at this time.


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## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

jbbadboy said:


> Yes, it seems that way, although there is some nesting twigs/needles close to her as well. No sign of the eggs which seem to be underneath her. The problem is that I cannot take any clear pictures without opening the balcony sliding doors, which ultimately makes her fly off to the adjacent building and I'm not sure that's a good idea at this time.


No, you're right......it's not a good idea to be scaring her off the nest right now. I thought maybe you could try taking one through the door without the flash..........don't know how much light is out where she is, so that might not work. Oh well, guess you'll just have to keep watch for a few more days and see what happens.


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## jbbadboy (Jul 6, 2008)

Sad news today. It's a beautiful day outside, sunny and warm but the nest looks to have been abandoned. One egg remains intact in the nest (probably the same egg that had been pushed out of the nest twice previously) along with something that can be described as a smaller white "lump" remaining just outside of the nest. I have no idea what went wrong. 

I was so looking forward to watching the new pigeon family.


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## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

jbbadboy said:


> Sad news today. It's a beautiful day outside, sunny and warm but the nest looks to have been abandoned. One egg remains intact in the nest (probably the same egg that had been pushed out of the nest twice previously) along with something that can be described as a smaller white "lump" remaining just outside of the nest. I have no idea what went wrong.
> 
> I was so looking forward to watching the new pigeon family.


Oh, sorry to hear that. Nature doesn't always do what we want her to do. Now, to keep the peace in your family, I would clean everything up and discourage these birds from coming back. Don't want Dad to be mad.


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## jbbadboy (Jul 6, 2008)

Thanks for all your help. I waited until the end of today to see whether or not the parents would come back. Sadly that hasn't come to pass. I have taken your advice and cleared away the nesting material and remaining egg. 

As I was going to clean the nest up I found two pigeons on my balcony. I have no way of telling whether they are the same two pigeons or new ones. After they saw me I watched them fly off. They looked like they were scoping balconies for possible nesting locations, always flying together. 

I've left the vertical blinds open in hopes that this will deter future nest settlements. Is there anything else I can do? 

Whatever happens, the knowledge I've gain on this site about pigeons will stay with me. These are such amazing birds! 

Thanks for all your help!


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