# How often and long do pigeons sleep?



## TitanicWreck

I have noticed the moment it starts to get dark, the feral pigeons disappear from the streets and go into hiding. Sometimes I'll see pigeons walking around in the dead of night, but its pretty rare. I head to work at 5am, right before sunrise- and by then the pigeons are up and about-i _assume_ the time they sleep depends on whether or not the sun is out. 

So how long do pigeons sleep? I think they hide when its dark outside- But even at 11pm I'll see pigeons moving and walking on the beams under a nearby bridge, so they're still awake....

I'm wondering- do they sleep 1 hour- 5 hours- or 8 hours?
If you happen to have pigeons, how long do they sleep?
Do they ever rest in the middle of the day?
It might seem a silly question- but I wonder what the feral do when they vanish at night...


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## Skyeking

The birds in the loft will live by the light of day. They will wake up upon daylight, or if they see a light going on in the house, and go to sleep by nightfall. 

When I have indoor birds they will stay up until I put them in a dark room and /or cover their cage.

If someone gets up early in the morning and turns on the lights they will see it from the coop and they begin to stir. They will start their soft cooing first.


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## Pigeonpal2002

TitanicWreck said:


> Im wondering- do they sleep 1 hour- 5 hours- or 8 hours?
> If you happen to have pigeons, how long do they sleep?
> Do they ever rest in the middle of the day?



Hi,

Treesa is right, pigeons live by the sun, they are diurnal birds and have poor night vision. Therefore, they sleep as long as it's dark out. In the winter when the days are short, they would sleep longer than in the summer.

Yep, pigeons do nap during the day but usually not for a long period of time. They are very light sleepers unlike humans or even dogs and cats. They always seem to be half awake but this is normal for them


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## maryco

Mine go to bed at sunset, and wake up at sunrise... Sometimes if I enter my room around 11 or 12 to go to bed they will come down off their perches, walk around, eat, drink, coo, dance, fly around abit.. and sometimes in the morning if they are really tired they will sleep until maybe 7 or so.. 

Thats' with regard to pet pigeons, and one of mine was a feral and I got him as an adult.

And the wild ferals outside usually go to their perches and roosts at sunset so they don't hurt themselves, and then they wake up at dawn or a little bit after, and everyone is different actually because I've seen some fly away right at dawn and some wait for the light to come out more and so forth. 

But generally they sleep most of the time while the sun is down, and between the day in short naps. And like Brad said they are light sleepers and sometimes sleep with one eye, lol, that always makes me smile.


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## TitanicWreck

I wonder what would happen if a fancier kept thier pigeons in an area that was always brightly lit- the poor things might get insomnia- But then again, pigeons are highly adaptable, so im sure they could sleep in well lit areas...
I have seen pigeons do something that many other bird species do- and that is sleep while standing on one foot- Why they don't fall over is a mystery to me...


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## maryco

Yeah for sure, most of them can balance for awhile on one foot, then they switch sometimes.


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## LondonPigeon

i wander what happens/happened when there is the Eclipse, if the pigeons get confused and fly of to their homes to go to sleep


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## Larry_Cologne

*National Geographic articles on sleep*

_National Geographic Magazine_ once had a great article on sleep (in the 1990s). One interesting point I remembered from the article was that humans sleep less than almost any other animal, and many animals sleep half to three-quarters of their time in a number of mini-naps 

I have trouble finding articles I once read in NGM. Seems easier to touch my right cheek to my right shoulder and study the subject listings on the magazine’s spine. Since I have NGMs going back to 1965 (and the odd issue before that) this can take some time. 

On the NGM website, I came upon this:

*Need Sleep? Birds May Have Shortcut to Second Wind*

"Birds are known for their ability to handle sleep deprivation—better than any mammal. *Pigeons, for example, can survive for months with only about ten percent of their normal sleep time."
*
_http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/11/1112_031112_tvbirdnaps_2.html
_

Also, about not falling over while standing on one leg: I think they have the ability to lock their legs (joints) when they so desire.


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## mr squeaks

Also, about not falling over while standing on one leg: I think they have the ability to lock their legs (joints) when they so desire.[/QUOTE]

Mmmm, wonder about the "locking" of joints. Maybe different in birds. Know that in the form of T'ai Chi that I practice, we are told never to lock our knee joints. Makes us too "stiff" and the idea is to relax. Therefore the knee joint is just "unlocked" but not really 'bent.' 

Same with birds????

Re sleeping. I know Squeaks will sit for hours in the afternoon if I'm on the computer that long. Of course, if I move, he's "wide awake." I do hear him moving around sometimes in the night. His cage is next to my bed. Of course, I assume that ferals have a different pattern than indoor pets...


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## TitanicWreck

LondonPigeon said:


> i wander what happens/happened when there is the Eclipse, if the pigeons get confused and fly of to their homes to go to sleep



I wonder how Alaskan pigeons adapt? When it can be with and without sunlight for months at a time, the poor pigies must go mad....
I have noticed here in Boston if it gets cloudy, the pigeons retreat to thier hiding places- perhaps the dark tricks them into thinking night has arrived...
And if the clouds clear and the sun returns, the pigeons reemerge as well...


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## TitanicWreck

mr squeaks said:


> Also, about not falling over while standing on one leg: I think they have the ability to lock their legs (joints) when they so desire.




I notice that the local ducks sometimes sleep standing on one foot as well...I wonder why? Perhaps it is a form of T'ai Chi...


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## mr squeaks

Many martial arts moves are based on animal movements...birds too...Crane style for one...


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## Victor

Larry_Cologne said:


> "Birds are known for their ability to handle sleep deprivation—better than any mammal. Pigeons, for example, can survive for months with only about ten percent of their normal sleep time."
> 
> 
> Very interesting. Another reason to admire pigeons even more...they remind me of me!


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## Jiggs

The eaves of our hotel are under spotlights, so it is bright 24 hours a day I have even seen pigeons sit up close to the spotlights as it is warm and sleep there all night in the bright light so I can just assume that they can "sleep with the light on"


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## kittypaws

When I was walking through Victoria Train Station last night at about 10.30pm when all sensible pidgies should be in bed, due to the lighting in the station here were a few very awake pidgies tucking into crumbs and chips left on the floor - it is definately a light thing!! 

I guess the pigeons, when crops are full up - return to their dark roosts somewhere - they don't roost in the Station - anti perching spikes everywhere!!!! 

Tania x


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## Larry_Cologne

*Pigeons sleeping ten percent of the time*



Victor said:


> Larry_Cologne said:
> 
> 
> 
> "Birds are known for their ability to handle sleep deprivation—better than any mammal. Pigeons, for example, can survive for months with only about ten percent of their normal sleep time."
> 
> 
> Very interesting. Another reason to admire pigeons even more...they remind me of me!
> 
> 
> 
> Victor,
> 
> Better not quote me as saying that. It was in the NGM.com, _National Geographic_ Magazine website. I was trying to find the old article I read sometime in the past ten years, and my bookshelves aren't the easiest to access.
> 
> I myself have trouble believing the pigeon sleeping ten percent of the time part of the NGM article, and that's why I had to refer to it. My two pigeons seem to get a bit grouchy if they don't get a solid 12 hours+ of sleep. If I have the lights on late they object.
> 
> I recently read (in internet? NGM?) that dolphins sleep with one-half of their brain while the other half remains alert. I can buy that. I can also accept Thomas Alva Edison getting by on four hours sleep a night. And I''ve read of a woman (in newsoftheweird.com ?) in some far north country who divorced her husband of a number of years because he (and his sister, or maybe it was their daughter, who lived in the same house) had a rare genetic disorder which prevented them from ever sleeping, and they puttered around the house 24 hours a day. Finally it got to her. And I can accept people and animals who seem to get by on very little sleep because of frequent mini-naps, or power-naps, or phasing out or going blank for a few minutes, or however one chooses to call it.
> 
> The _National Geographic_ article I have in mind is maybe outdated, but it said that humans sleep less than almost any other animal. (And they live longer than almost any other animal; more than a hundred million heartbeats, if I recall correctly. Don't quote me on these data). It stated further that most other animals spend half or much more of their time in sleep, some as much as maybe ninety percent.
> 
> Anyway, I figure if I give proper references and attributions, others can check the facts for themselves if so inclined without having to argue with me, and I won't be accused of plagiarism, or even libel or slander.
> 
> Sorry for the tedious explanations. I guess I'm saying I don't necessarily believe everything I write is necessarily absolutely true, even on the (perhaps rare) occasion when I might have gotten the facts straight.
> 
> I remember an old saying: "The love of the tedium involved is the test of a true vocation."
> 
> Perhaps you can rank pigeon people by the amount of time they are willing to (and actually do) discuss pigeon poops.
> 
> Of course, we have to separate the pigeon people from the pigeons. George Orwell in _Animal Farm_ had the pigs, who took over the farm from the humans, becoming what they once despised: humans. If the pigeons remind you of you, perhaps the borders, the differences, are fading away. I dream often of pigeons. Perhaps the members of the pigeon-life forums will one day have a great get-together, a tremendous flapping of wings, and all will dash home afterwards to their perches.
Click to expand...


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