# Henry, aka The Dalmatian



## Siam Sam

We have a new feral hanging around. We've been calling him The Dalmatian but lately have segued into Henry.

Here are some photos, taken between August 14 and today ("today" being Tuesday, September 8 even though it's after 1:30am of the 9th now):

Henry and temple. Maybe you can't see him all that well, but I like the background.

This one is better. You can really see his spots there.

And here, you can see his wing pattern. This is, of course, his right wing. The funny thing is he's not quite symmetrical; the pattern on the left wing is just a little less intricate than the pattern on the right wing.

Henry and The Lady. He's on the rail below, and she's up on top.

A closer shot of her is here. She is very feminine-looking, sleek and elegant. But Henry does not seem very interested in her. Indeed, we think they may be siblings. Both are white, and she does have a few black spots. We've not seen her for almost a week now.

And a close-up of Henry.

Henry inspects the flower box. This was the day after the Big Battle while we were away, mentioned down below, and we'd not cleaned up yet. You can see the little spirit house knocked down on the left.

A three-quarters view. More of that nice right-wing pattern.

And one more.

Henry hangs around for a large part of each day. In the flower box, on the rail, in the "living room" (the tree pot). Seems to be guarding his territory. We returned home on Saturday to find the aftermath of a big battle on the balcony -- dirt everywhere from the flower box, the water dish moved, the little spirit house knocked down -- and Henry in the middle of it all, preening. Guess he won!

We have a little birdseed left over from the experiment with Little Pidgee and so put a little out for him. But like Little Pidgee at first, he didn't recognize it as food and so ignored it. However, Little Pidgee and The Stranger, who must be monitoring the balcony, sure recognized it, and they kept trying to fly in to eat it. This caused Henry to have a hissy fit, and he'd puff up, dance around, make threatening noises and finally chase them off. Then he would fly straight after them if they didn't go far enough away, like a little attack pigeon! After a couple of times of this, we removed the food, because we could see this was going to be nothing but trouble. Still keep water out there, though.

Although Henry's clearly an adult, we think maybe he's still young. He does not seem to have a mate. Again, that pretty white pigeon has not come around again lately, but they didn't seem to be mates anyway. Possibly siblings.


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## Lovebirds

Henry is what we call a Blue Grizzle. Very pretty bird. I love the Blue grizzles especially. 
Thanks the for the pictures.


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## TerriB

Thanks for sharing your photos. What a handsome bird. He is so fortunate to have your support!


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## malfunctional

Nice pics. I'm going to have to get myself a better camera


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## mr squeaks

Henry is a GORGEOUS HANDSOME PIJ!!

Wishing him ALL THE BEST and hope to hear more updates about his adventures!!

With Love, Hugs and Scritches

Shi and the gang


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## Feefo

Henry is very handsome, I love the clarity of his markings.


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## FloridaLuv

Beautiful bird... and I love the one whith him and the _Temple! _ Very Cool!


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## rattyfied

thanks for sharing, i'm so glad you've posted an update


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## Garye

Henry looks a lot like my Shelley. I wonder why they call them blue grizzles? They are rare.


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## TerriB

Sweet picture of Shelley, Garye!


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## Siam Sam

Yes, a good picture. What is that she's eating?

Friday morning here, and last night I sprinkled some birdfood in the flower box and on the floor next to it. I looked out about 8am this morning, and sure enough, there's Henry sitting in the box again. (He really likes the flower box.) He's gone off somewhere now, but it looks like he may have eaten the food on the floor but not touched what was in the box.

Have not seen The Lady for a week. Henry seems not to have a mate at all. I hope he finds one and brings her "home" here. Wonder where he sleeps at night.


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## Siam Sam

He's back now and definitely eating the food on the ground. And in the flower box. 

My idea is to have food down that only he can see. If I put out a container, other pigeons, such as The Stranger, will swoop in, and a fight will ensue. I'm not happy about denying food to poor Little Pidgee, though.


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## Siam Sam

This feels like a good place to post this YouTube video. Watch all the way to the end.


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## TerriB

Wow, those pigeons look HUGE compared to the sparrow!!! Great video.


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## Naunnie

Henry is a very handsome guy. That video is really something! I jumped when the other ones jumped in!!! I need a better camera too. Blue Grizzle hum...I going to research these guys. They are beautiful.


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## TAWhatley

Loved the video! That's quite a scene at the end! 

Terry


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## Garye

Crazy video. First you see the small birds, then the big birds come along (pigeons) and chase the small birds away like they're dinosaurs, and then you have the nut in the end chasing the "dinosaurs" away. It's funny seeing those pigeons run away scared in the end. Must've been the Tyrannosaurus rex that got to them 

Shelley was eating a slice of bread that someone had left her. It appears my flock has many friends that come by with goodies. I guess some people just love them.


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## Siam Sam

After posting the above yesterday, I went to take a shower. When I came out, there'd been another fight. Dirt from the flower box everywhere and no pidgees in sight. (But Henry was back later.) I don't think the fight was over food, because Henry had pretty much picked the area clean by that point. No, it was about possession of the prized flower box. Man, I wish pigeons had cash; then we'd be able to charge them rent for what appears to be a very prized piece of real estate.


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## Siam Sam

Nothing much happening on the pidgee front. That fight aftermath last Friday was the last signs of any other pigeons. Now I sprinkle food onto the dirt in the flower box every day. Other pigeons won't notice it, but Henry knows it's there. He'll come, eat, drink water, eat some more, lounge around a bit. Sometimes for most of the day, but he always leaves to sleep somewhere else at night. But this is clearly his daytime hangout now, and we're really hoping he finds a mate and builds a nest.

We feel a little guilty about never having provided food for Big Pidgee, but keeping him here was never a problem. He decided on our place and that was that; we probably could not have made him leave if we'd wanted to, and again there's good hunting in the neighborhood for a pigeon. With Henry, we're trying to convince him to stay.


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## malfunctional

I think if you had been providing food you would have encouraged plenty more pigeons. Big pidgee would have struggled to maintain his turf.


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## Siam Sam

The wife came home this afternoon while I was out, and she said Henry was lounging on the green edge of the concrete to the far left, away from the wall, looking out and cooing. So he was calling to somone. But was he calling to someone in particular? Or just calling out that he was available?


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## Garye

Maybe he's calling out for you?  

Maybe he's a _she_?

Hey! I get their sex wrong too! Only time will tell...


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## Siam Sam

No, we're pretty sure Henry's a he, based on his aggressive fights with The Stranger. The Lady, when she was coming around, meekly deferred to him. Doesn't the male do the cooing to call for his mate?

And speaking of The Stranger, he's figured out there's food in the flower box. Came around twice this morning -- alone, without Little Pidgee -- and was in the box eating. Ran, or flew, away like a scared rabbit when he saw he'd been caught in the act, once when the wife saw him and once when I did. When I saw him, I heard a loud "FWUMP" as he broke the sound barrier getting away. Really. Henry's out there now, but he wasn't around earlier. Feathers would have been flying if he had been.


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## Garye

My Maggie coos whenever she knows I'm near... and I know it's a she because she lays eggs. She also bows and coos...like a male at times.

Ahhh... it doesn't take others long to find out there's free food, now does it? I betcha that bird's been watching and waiting for the right moment.

Trust me, you'll have more than Henry hanging around digging for food.


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## Siam Sam

We think Little Pidgee and The Stranger have been monitoring our balcony to see if we put more food out. Back when little Bob was around, we started doing that to entice Little Pidgee to stay and feed him. It didn't work, but she and The Stranger, her new mate, started expecting food. I thought we'd fool them by putting it in the box rather than leaving a little dish out, but The Stranger had been coveting the box before, too.

Henry will beat him like a red-headed stepchild if he catches him on the balcony, though.


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## Siam Sam

Good news! Henry slept here last night (Monday night)! This was his second attempt. Last time, I ended up frightening him away when I tried to change his water. Despite it being dark and late at night, he flew away to "safety." This time, I didn't try to go out.

The wife didn't come home until after dark, so Henry must have figured the place would be empty all night. But he still kept a wary eye on us. He must have been really surprised when the wife made her entrance. Then I come home, and he must have been thinking: "Oh no! There's the other one, too! I'm trapped!"

When it came time for us to go to bed, and I needed to close the curtains, he started getting very nervous. We _have_ to close the curtains here, or else the tropical sun comes blazing in in the morning. So I turned off all the lights and then moved in to close them. That worked! He didn't seem to notice anything.

First thing this morning, he was cooing. But he doesn't seem to have a mate. Was he advertising himself?


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## TAWhatley

Thanks for the update .. your pigeon stories and keen observations are amazing!

Terry


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## StanelyPidge09

That video was hilarious!! And Henry looks like such a sweetie. I hope he finds a girlfriend  Good luck Henry!!


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## malfunctional

Wow. That's so cool that he stayed over. Only Mom of mine has ever stayed over and only when on eggs. Even in the courting period they didn't stay.


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## Mindy

Love the pics, and the video, and hearing the updates on Henry & Co. Glad he decided to stay over. min


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## Siam Sam

Stayed away the next night.


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## Siam Sam

Things are slow on the Henry front. He has not slept here at night since the last time but does spend a good part of each day, maybe most of the day, on our balcony. If another pigeon comes too close, like lands on the window frames nearby, he does his little Anger Dance. And if a pigeon still has the temerity to land on the balcony, Henry will chase it away.

But he sits out there in the early morning cooing away, like he's calling for a mate. There are markedly fewer pigeons in the neighborhood now. Maybe the pool for choosing a mate is too small right now.

The Stranger, or Marty, has stopped by a couple of times when Henry was not here, but no more sign of Little Pidgee.


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## Mindy

Love hearing the update, its like "As the Pigeon Flys" soap opera. Or "All My Pigeons" mindy


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## Siam Sam

Thanks! 

And Henry did something completely new yesterday (Wednesday): He climbed into his water dish for a bath! The plastic container we use now is a little larger and deeper than the previous one. As far as we know, he's never climbed in before. There have never been any signs of bathing before. No excess water spilled out.

But he sure seemed to enjoy it yesterday. Would turn over on each side and stretch his opposite wing way up into the air and hold it there while he soaked one side. Looked like synchronized swimming. Then went and laid out to dry off, like we've seen some of the squabs do in the past.


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## StanelyPidge09

I love watching pigeons take baths! I just think it is the funniest thing ever and they look so cute and focused, soaking each wing and then splattering the water all over the place! How can that not put someone in a good mood!  

I always look forward to your updates Siam Siam so Thank you!


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## Siam Sam

The past couple of mornings, a female has come around, and Henry gets all excited. A little TOO excited, because he seems to frighten her away unintentionally with his advances. He's very unsubtle, a bit like: "Come here, woman!" And she ends up fleeing the scene. But she keeps coming back, so she must be interested. Gray and with markings like Sammy of the third batch, although it's not Sammy. This one seems rather young. Has a very sweet face.


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## Mindy

Been waiting for an update, thanks for sharing, I hope he gets her. min


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## Siam Sam

The Girl appeared again yesterday morning (Tuesday morning), but she seems to be interested only in the food. She and Henry were far apart on the rails, she apparently decided it was safe to make a move for the food, hopped down to go to the flower box, and Wham! Henry tried to jump her, and she flew away.

Later, she, the Stranger and Little Pidgee (first sighting in weeks) all three arrived while Henry was away. I wonder if she's related to them, or at least to Little Pidgee. Maybe Big Pidgee was her father, and she came from another nest? She seems too old to be a product of the Stranger and Little Pidgee.


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## rattyfied

aren't they fascinating?! 

i've always liked seeing "our" feral flock on the roof opposite, but since having balcony pijies i'm totally hooked
have even taken to looking through binoculars at the roof pijies


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## Siam Sam

The Girl managed to sneak in yesterday and get some food while Henry was gone. Then she saw me, and even though I was far away from the window, she completely freaked out. Flew away.


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## Siam Sam

The Henry situation is pretty much static. The Girl has stopped coming by. Henry still hangs out much of the day. The Stranger/Marty will often sneak in to eat when Henry's not here, and occasionally Little Pidgee will make a return appearance. Henry appears to enjoy a varied diet, as while he knows there's food here, we often see him hunting for bugs on the mansion lawn next door, along with other pigeons. We're at the height of the rainy season now, and the water is pushing them up out of the ground. Must be a real feast.

I'll have to take some new photos. He's so beautiful, but he's not changed from the last photos. It's not like the squabs, where they change every day.


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## Siam Sam

Woo hoo! I am pleased to report that Henry FINALLY had a "romantic interlude." Go, Henry! 

Yesterday afternoon (Thursday afternoon). I missed it myself, but the wife watched the whole thing. It was a small girl -- not the Girl, but rather a small Little-Pidgee look-alike. The wife thinks it COULD have been George, the last squab (the last one to survive. Poor Bob.  ) If so, she -- we had arbitrarily decided George was a he, thus the name -- would be 5 months old now.

The wife had the impression this was still a very young bird. She said Henry was much bigger, that when they started kissing, he towered over her, and when they did the deed it looked like he would crush her. Afterward, they both seemed very pleased, and the female, walking off in a daze, strolled through the water dish without seeming to notice it.

So, Henry likes the young girls, eh? Well, this IS Thailand, after all. 

This morning, I've not seen Henry, but I did inadvertently scare away a little pidgee that fit the description. And the Girl has also come back a couple of times since yesterday looking for food, so there may be a love triangle developing.

In case Henry and his lady want to build a nest in the flower box, I'll stop putting food in there. I've set out another separate container of food again.


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## malfunctional

Wow this is great news. I am amazed that you get to watch this behaviour without disturbing them. With mine Dad gawks at me every time he sees me, even if I'm as far away from the window as possible. My first youngster found his mate at 4 months old and after 8 months they laid their first eggs. It seems right on cue.


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## Mindy

That is great news. I can't wait until they lay there eggs and have there young. min


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## Siam Sam

malfunctional said:


> Wow this is great news. I am amazed that you get to watch this behaviour without disturbing them. With mine Dad gawks at me every time he sees me, even if I'm as far away from the window as possible. My first youngster found his mate at 4 months old and after 8 months they laid their first eggs. It seems right on cue.


There are definite boundaries. We can't get too close to the window, or else they'll flee the scene. But we have floor-to-ceiling windows looking onto the balcony, so don't have to get very close. We do spend some time staring at each other, though.

Things have settled down somewhat. The hen that Henry had his interlude with has not been seen for some days. The Girl does keep coming around, and Henry always gets real excited and chases after her, but she's clearly interested only in the food. She's very small, smaller even than that other hen, and we think she must be very young.


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## malfunctional

Good to know I'm not special. Unfortunately I've got frosted glass from about waist high down in my apartment. I set up a nice mirror system so that I can watch them without them seeing me but they are so sharp, they have cottoned on to it too. Tinted windows would be best. They are so difficult not to watch, especially when the babies are screaming away for food. I must also get a better camera, and wash my windows more often.


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## Siam Sam

Well, whether that was George or not whom Henry had his romantic interlude with, she's disappeared. Showed up maybe one more time. But the Girl has been coming around much more, every day now. Still extremely skittish, though. And Henry seems to adore her. He gets all excited when she comes around, coos and dances, so we always know when she's landed nearby on the window frames.

They both took a bath yesterday (Thursday), although not at the same time (no room). He lets her in to eat and clearly is fascinated with her. However, she's rejected all of his advances so far and is plainly here just for the food.

Henry has clearly moved in and considers the balcony his daytime hangout. Wish we knew where he slept at night. The Girl, too.


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## TerriB

Way to go, Henry! Hope your persistance impresses The Girl.


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## Siam Sam

New Photos! 

Henry has well and truly settled in. He has his own sleeping spot elsewhere, but he always shows up shortly after daybreak for some breakfast. Sill hangs around a good part of the day. Eats and chases girls, often comically so. It's very entertaining! In addition to the youngish Girl mentioned before, her mother stops by now. We figure it's her parent, because one time the Girl tried to get a feeding from her, and we know she's female because Henry tries to diddle her. We've dubbed her the Pretty One, because she resembles a Jackson Pollock painting, with all of her colors, even greens and purples. We've delayed giving them names until it's for certain they'll stay.

Despite his brief liaison with George(ia), she rarely comes around, and he spends so much of his time cooing and dancing in front of the females -- especially the Girl, who seems to be his first choice, but also her mother, the Pretty One -- but they just want to eat and will run from him. Sometimes he leaves them be to eat, sometimes he makes it clear he wants some action.

Henry will let any female pigeon stop by but chases the males away. Marty, who turns one year old later this month, is about the only male pigeon that tries to show up, always with Little Pidgee. They'll try to sneak in when Henry is away. Henry considers Marty his his mortal enemy and will attack him immediately upon sight. They've even fought over on the window frames. (I have the impression Henry considers the entire building his, or at least this side.) But he never attacks Little Pidgee; just Marty, while Little Pidgee stands by. Henry always wins.

What's neat, too, is when Henry does a patrol of the building. Really. We live in a rather narrow tower, 36 floors but only five units maximum per floor. Sometimes we'll see Henry take off to the left and disappear around the building, and a few minutes later he reappears and lands from the right, having circled the building just for the heck of it apparently. Other times, he flies around out in front of the balcony, gliding gracefully; he really has a good time,

So here are some more photos, taken over the past two months:

Henry at rest. Nice wing design there.

Snoozing in the flower box. He stopped hanging out in the box after we started putting food in there. He still jumped in to eat it but simply stopped hanging out in there. Now we use a food box on the floor, but he's out of the habit. We still have hope he'll find a mate some day and build a nest in there.

On the rail.

Snoozing in the living room. Note the small food box in the flower box. We tried that for a while, thinking if the food stayed contained that Henry would maybe lounge in the box again, but Henry and the other pigeons always ended up knocking it over, so we finally started putting it on the balcony floor.

Henry, the Pretty One and the Girl. Note that mother and daughter are eating. I believe Henry may be dancing here, not sure.

The Pretty One. (Henry's off to the side.) This is shot through the screen door, so it's hard to tell her colors, but there are a lot of greens and purples.

Mother and daughter. And again.

Henry eating. And eating. They tend to spill a bunch out, too.

And some good ones of Henry and the Chinese-Thai temple we have a good view of. Henry takes flight. He was on the top rail and started getting nervous about what I was doing with the camera; took off just as I snapped this photo. Then he returned to admire the temple here and here. And a couple of days later, he agreed to pose for me.

And of course, you can see all of Henry's photos on one page here.

And so that's the pidgee update. Again, Henry has not found a regular mate. He's obviously not spending time sitting on eggs elsewhere during the day, since he spends so much time here. He keeps chasing the girls, who don't want to be intimate with him. And the other pretty white one, the Lady, has never come back, but we have noticed a couple of white pigeons on the mansion grounds next door, and Henry even sometimes joins them to hunt for worms and such; we still think she's his sister.


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## Mindy

Can't wait to see the pictures, thanks for the update. min


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## TAWhatley

Mindy said:


> Can't wait to see the pictures, thanks for the update. min


Min .. click on the underlined links in blue .. some great pics!

Terry


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## Mindy

Boy, I'm I DUMB. I laughed at myself on that one. I was thinking they had to get approved first like some threads. Thanks Terry. I hope I don't make that mistake again. lol 

They were some great pics. Your place looks amazing. And the Henry and the girls are gorgeous. I love catching up with Henry. min


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## Siam Sam

Thanks!

We've moved that large food dish into the flower box. No one's building any nests there now anyway, and everyone keeps dumping the food out onto the balcony floor. This food box is larger than the last one we used, more rectangular and fits nicely between the walls of the flower box, and they can't dump it over inside the flower box. The only drawback now that we can see is only one can eat at a time, unless another one peches on the rim and bends way down, which one or two have been doing. In fact, sometimes they do this anyway, perch on the rim instead of eating from inside the flower box. We'll try this for a while to see how it works, but it seems to be helping make less of a mess out there so far.


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## Flying Jay

what a beauty!


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## mr squeaks

WOW! GREAT pictures!

Beautiful pijies AND beautiful view...a MOST lovely place!!

Thank you so much for sharing and keeping us updated!!

Sending all our BEST with Love and Hugs

Shi/Mr. Squeaks/Dom/Gimie/WoeBeGone


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## Siam Sam

Siam Sam said:


> Mother and daughter. And again.


Well, make that _father_ and daughter after all. The one we call the Pretty One turns out to be a male! We discovered that this morning (Thursday morning) when he had sex with Little Pidgee out on the balcony! 

We thought Henry was trying to go after the Pretty One too, but it was clearly not as serious as with the Girl, so maybe he was just palling around with him. Dunno. But the Pretty One is definitely a male.

And THEN, not more than 20 minutes after that, Little Pidgee had sex with Henry! Our balcony is turning into a Bangkok brothel. I saw Marty just a day or two ago, so he's still around. But Little Pidgee has been hanging around with the Pretty One for a few days. Has she dumped Marty? Did she finally figure out he's her son? Is her promiscuity a sign of her grief over Big Pidgee?

We approve of her liaisons with the Pretty One or Henry, either one, but we would like to see her eventually settle down with Henry. Would be good to have some more squabs out there.


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## malfunctional

This is crazy stuff. Did they do it in the designated sex area? I hardly ever see my guys doing it, but I think it's more because there is no way I can watch discretely.


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## Siam Sam

As a matter of fact, they did.

The wife now is wondering if that really was Little Pidgee, but I'm certain it was her. There have been a couple of other pigeons that resemble her coming by, such as George(ia), but they're smaller and more timid, running from Henry. After 18 months, I know Little Pidgee, and far from running away, she actually seemed to instigate it, BOTH times.  In fact, the Pretty One seemed not that interested but agreed to do it after she kept ramming her beak in his.

Ah, looking outside now, I see Henry and Little Pidgee are both here eating.


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## Mindy

I can't wait for babies. Loved the pics and love hearing stories of Henry, and Little Pidgie and the rest of the family. min


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## Siam Sam

Well, no nesting is going on. And Henry seems to have just "one-night stands" and has not settled down with anyone yet.

But the mystery of the Pretty One's gender is solved: There are two of them! One must be male and the other female. They both appeared at the same time the other day. Look very similar, but you can see a difference when they're together.


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## mr squeaks

And the beat goes on....!!!

A _true_ pigeon soap opera!

Who's with whom?? Is there incest going on?? Will there be babies?? When?? With whom??

Got quite a "corner" on the Bangkok Pigeon Soap Opera there Siam Sam!! ROFL 

Keep those episodes comin'! 

Love and Hugs and Scritches

Shi and Squeaks/Dom/Gimie/Woe...who are also "watching and waiting" to see what happens next!


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## Garye

Henry's not only pretty - but cute. I love to see pigeons nap with their eyes closed and then they suddenly realize they're being watched - and they snap open at you.

Well I guess you were right all along. Henry's definitely a male. And a bachelor at that trying desperately to find a wife.

I'd love to see the offspring he'll produce with another pigeon. Maybe he'll do like what my Shelley did when she mated with a gray pigeon - half looked like her (the head part) and the other half looked like her mate. It was an unusual offspring to say the least but at least you knew who its parents were!


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## Siam Sam

An update: Things kept going along as above, with nothing much new to report. But word began spreading among the local pigeon population that there was a food buffet here, and more and more began showing up. Henry, who would let in anything with a skirt anyway, could not keep them all out, so more males began arriving. Fights started breaking out, and it was turning into a bit of a mess. There were so many that we thought building management might eventually have to have a word with us. Even this past Sunday, as I cleaned the balcony, a group of no less than six pigeons sat on the window frames nearby watching me, waiting for their chance to return.

So with the situation getting a little out of control, we decided we had to stop leaving food out for a while. That seems to have worked, as they've all largely disappeared. Henry still stops by for water, we still leave water out there, but no food out there for a few days. again, this is a neighborhood of abundant resources, so he hasn't been starving, we're sure.

After four days, I put some food out again last night. It's Saturday morning now; have not seen Henry around yet, but we hope he can keep it more to himself this time when he shows up and finds it again.


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## Mindy

Thanks for the update, you wonder how the word does get out about the free buffet. How do they communicate? Funny, min


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## malfunctional

I must say I've been pretty lucky with my free buffet. There is always food out for all my pigeons and so far only one non-family member has discovered this. Dad does most of the protecting though, so I think he is the main reason for this.

I chase the stranger "Silverfoot" away as much as possible too


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## Siam Sam

Well, we put the food back out. I even bought a small dog dish from which the food could be accessed easily but they couldn't turn over. But I'm afraid too many pidgees are once again descending. Not as many as before, but definitely too large a group.

And Henry is so funny! He spends a good part of the day chasing them away from his home. It's like something out of a Keystone Kops silent feature, the way he's continuously running around after them. But funny as it may be, we've removed the food again and maybe will try it again in a couple of weeks.

It looks like Henry and Little Pidgee are now a couple. They're always together. When she eats, he acts like a gentleman and tries to eat around her without disturbing her. They "did it" again yesterday afternoon (Wednesday afternoon). The funny thing is, Little Pidgee seems to be the pursuer, while Henry is very passive. She starts kissing him, then bends down for him. He won't even dance, just sort of goes "Well, okay," does it and that's that.

So Little Pidgee seems to have dumped Marty. Maybe she finally realized that was her son! Marty seems to have taken up with one of the Pretty Ones. It looked like he was standing guard over her while she was eating the other day.

And a cute new pidgee showed up on Monday. Black! A gray body but a black head and neck, and more oddly, black feet! It looks like he was burned in a fire. I don't mean really burned, but his coloring gives a charred impression. So he's Jack (as in Jack Black, or Black Jack ). Seems to be very young, maybe right out of the nest somewhere. All the other pigeons hate him and chase him away, but he's really cute, seems to like the balcony and is not very nervous with us. Unfortunately, Henry chases him away every time, and it's Henry's call. We know it's a male, because it seems to be only male pidgees chasing away only other male pidgees while the females simply look on.


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## mr squeaks

Yes, I hear you about the few becoming many...as news of the banquet spreads!! I may have to cut back too...but, for now, so far, so good!

Black footed pijies aren't that common around here. I did help one out when he was young and then was able to release him. Named him Marlin Darlin' Blackfeet.He was sooooo cute! 

After he was released, I never saw him again...he might have flown back to where he originally came from. 

Just red "feets" around now...

All the best to your group!

Love and Hugs

Shi/Mr. Squeaks/Dom/Gimie/WoeBeGone


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## Siam Sam

Henry and Little Pidgee are definitely a couple now. But I'm afraid we've had a tragedy today (Saturday). It looks as if Little Pidgee has lost her left eye after apparently getting into a fight with or attacked by a large pigeon we'd not seen before.

She was fine all day. I was out giving the balcony a good cleaning. Henry and Little Pidgee kept flying close, even landing on the concrete edge of the balcony occasionally, on a far side from me, but mostly they watched from the window frames. I finished close to 5pm, but that's pretty late for them, especially Henry, and they had left.

Less than an hour later, shortly before 6pm, Little Pidgee showed up in the dining-room window, chased by a large pigeon that looked like her or Marty, only bigger. I did not see this, but the wife was working at the table and saw it immediately. She said it was definitely not Marty, because no "socky feet," the feathers that some pigeons have that go all the way down onto the feet. This pigeon was acting aggressively, but left when he saw Little Pidgee was not going to respond. She was scrunched into the corner of the window frame. Or it could have been the large pigeon was spooked by my wife, but she has the impression it was the lack of a response from Little Pidgee that did it. And when the large pigeon left, the wife saw something was wrong with Little Pidgee's left eye.

I was downstairs at a nearby convenience store while all of this was going on, getting stuff for us to drink for dinner, and Little Pidgee and her attacker showed up just before I returned. I took a close look by the window. Little Pidgee did not try to flee, and yes, her left eye seemed gone! not bloody or oozing, just gone. A blank space. The wife and I went out onto the balcony and took a look. Our dining-room window is next to the balcony, and Little Pidgee was still on the far side. It was after 6pm by this time and getting close to dark. We thought maybe she came here on purpose, considering it a refuge, so we didn't want to scare her away. But she did not seem concerned by our attention.

As mentioned, I had cleaned the balcony today. I had already put out fresh water. We had removed the flower box earlier this week but, since Henry and Little Pidgee seemed to be a couple, planned to put it back out with fresh earth inside covering up what food was left. (They'd all made a real mess knocking the dirt out of the box getting at the food that was in there.) So we did that quickly, and Little Pidgee saw us. Shortly before it was completely dark, Little Pidgee flew over to the balcony. She seemed a bit disoriented. Probably in shock, as she had just lost her eye. Drank water but seemed to misgauge the bowl and stuck her entire face in. Drank a lot, though. Then walked right through the water, sort of staggering. Hung out between the water dish and the flower box and seemed to "droop." Didn't act startled at all when I went close, but as I reached out slowly through the door, she perked up and jumped up onto the edge of the flower box. Then she moved to the tree pot we call their "living room" and from there, to the balcony rail that Big Pidgee always used to sleep on. I sprinkled a little birdseed on the floor by the water dish while she was looking, so if she wants that, it's there.

And she's out there now. It's about 7:45pm as I type this. Again, she may have thought of this place as a shelter. Looked like she was sleeping earlier, but she opened her eye when I turned on the light to check on her. Didn't act to move, though. I think she needs some rest.

We've seen one-eyed pigeons in the city before, so we know this is not necessarily fatal. Little Pidgee still does not want to be touched and is active enough to flee. We'll let her sleep here tonight and see how she is in the morning. Henry possibly knows nothing of this now.

Does anyone have any suggestions for what we can do? I'm going to copy most of this post into a new thread asking advice.


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## Siam Sam

Here's the other thread: Need advice: Little Pidgee Has Lost an Eye.


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## Siam Sam

Siam Sam said:


> Here's the other thread: Need advice: Little Pidgee Has Lost an Eye.


It's turned out well. I posted this in the other thread:

*Good news! Little Pidgee's eye is not gone. Sunday morning now, and she's back to normal. Got up at sunrise to look out. Her new man Henry was out there by the water. Then Little Pidgee popped her head up from just beneath the balcony door, where she'd apparently been eating the small pile of food I left out. Unlike last night, my presence startled her, like normal. She looked at me from both sides of her head, and her left eye was clearly open and functioning. Then she ran over to the edge of the balcony and flew away, followed by Henry. Phew!

I can only assume the attacker had been pecking at her eye, causing it to close up. And she must have been exhausted and in shock from the fight. But I saw the eye, albeit briefly, and it looks okay this morning. We expect her back later, and we can take another look. I put another little pile of food out there, and Henry is eating it now. And we saw them both together over on the mansion grounds this morning.

Thanks for the advice, but in this case, it looks like leaving her alone to rest was the right decision. She must have been scared out of her wits last night. I'm glad she thought of us as a safe haven.

What would have made that other pigeon attack her? Just from what we've seen on our balcony, it looks like males attack other males and leave the ladies alone. The wife says this pigeon was seriously angry at Little Pidgee.*


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## Siam Sam

Okay, so the crisis is definitely over. Tuesday morning now, 2-1/2 days after The Incident, and Little Pidgee's eye is definitely good. You'd never know anything happened. Odd that it closed up like that. It looked very scary, then okay the next morning.

But Henry and Little Pidgee are definitely a couple now. Almost always together. But still, when he's alone, and he sees the Girl, Henry goes into his mating dance. No dancing for Little Pidgee. Unrequited love perhaps?

And in all the excitement of Saturday night, I neglected to mention Jack, the black pidgee that suddenly appeared on Monday of last week. Saturday, he planted himself on a nearby window frame and stayed there all day long. I was afraid he might be sick, because he just would not move. Kept staring at our balcony. All day long. I went to the rail and waved my hand, and he did take a step or two back, but he remained on the frame. Finally he left, close to 5pm.

Jack is a starnge one. Does not spook very easily and will stand close to our door and stare in. Just stare. Last night (Monday night), he stayed here on the balcony! I was away in the afternoon, but the wife said when he first arrived, he just stood there and stared curiously at her. He does not act sick, but he's definitely a cool customer. No idea where he came from, just appeared. None of the other pidgees seems to like him. Black head, face and feet. Never saw one like him around here before.

We've taken to pouring a small pile of birdseed on the balcony floor outside our door occasionally, and that seems to help keep things orderly -- a little. Henry and Little Pidgee, along with Jack and the Girl, can finish them up quickly, but it's not a big advertisement for everyone in the neighborhood. And if I move very slowly while Henry and Little Pidgee are there, I can pour a little out without spooking them too badly, so they see it's me giving them food. I would love to have them eat out of my hand, but I doubt that's going to happen anytime soon.

But Marty's been coming around, and he digs out the dirt in the flower box, looking for food that might be there. Dumps it everywhere! I guess it was a mistake to put food in there in the first place. I've had to bring the box back in and will replace it empty later. It's not like anyone actually uses it for sleeping now.

Also, Katie and Sammy have returned. Mates who are siblings from different batches of Big and Little Pidgee. Katie is actually male and used to fight Big Pidgee, his father. Now he and Henry fight, and I have to try to shoo Katie away.


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## Siam Sam

Put the flower box back out empty, so if they want to nest in it, they can. The whole idea of the dirt was to make it a bit softer, but no one's nesting in it now anyway.

I put another little pile of food out this morning (Wednesday morning), and so many pidgess came flying. Henry does what he can to chase them away, but I see Katie and the male Pretty One even chasing Little Pidgee away! Can't have that. May have to cut back on food a bit again.

I think Henry is slowly learning that I'm trying to chase away the other males when they fight but not him. When a fight breaks out, I try to focus my attention on the fighters and not make any quick gestures towards Henry. He seems to understand. A little. Maybe. But he'll still fly away eventually if I get too close.

Also, food. I put out dove food, which is about the closest I can find to pigeon food, and they seem to like that. (They also like a brand of canary/finch food available here. Thais use the same word for doves and pigeons, they don't seem to distinguish between the two. Same with lemons and limes.) However, some of the seeds are green, and they always leave those. The other seeds are various shades of brown and black, and they'll pick those out. Then they'll finally eat the green ones if there are no others. I thought pidgees were color blind? Perhaps they pick up on the difference in shade. I wonder what it is about the taste of that particular seed.


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## Siam Sam

I've been putting out a small pile at night for the next morning, thinking Henry and Little Pidgee were the first ones here, but we were up at daybreak today (Saturday), and the whole gang was out there. Henry will chase them away if it's only a couple of them, but this is too overwhelming for him. And they fight and act like it's their place, not Henry's. No, we have to put a stop to this, but we'll keep leaving water out.

Henry came back alone a couple of times this morning, and I put out just a little for him. If I move real slowly, he won't spook now, and he sees I'm the one with the food.


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## Siam Sam

So now we're waiting for Henry or Little Pidgee to show up, then we'll pour just a little out the door, showing them the bag. This seems to work, especially for Henry, as he will watch with interest and not fly away. So far, Little Pidgee flies away at some point, but not before she sees us pouring a little food out.

Strange, though, we've not seen Henry and Little P together very much the last few days. They were inseparable for a while. Ah, poor Little Pidgee. She had one Great Love, Big Pidgee, and he's gone. Quite a tragedy. She's been throwing herself at guys ever since.


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## Mindy

Maybe you haven't seen them together because she is sitting on eggs? maybe? Still enjoy hearing about Henry and little pidgees and the rest of the gang.


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## Siam Sam

I don't think so. She'd be sitting on the eggs at night, him during the day, but he sure spends a lot of time here during the day.

Speaking of night, I don't think we've seen Jack again since Tuesday morning after he stayed here Monday night.


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## Siam Sam

I was cleaning up a little out on the balcony this morning (Monday morning) and changing the water. I must be under observation, because Henry and a couple of other pidgees came flying and waited over on the window frames in case this meant food.

After I finished, Henry came over, but I didn't want to put food out until the others were gone. Eventually they left, so I poured just a little out, managing not to spook Henry, who watched me do it from the edge of the balcony.

But the other two came back, and poor Henry spent half his time fighting them off.  I mean _really_ fighting. One was the female Pretty One and the other a new one, a near-Little Pidgee lookalike only much bigger. And he's male, because he and Henry became locked in combat. I helped Henry shoo them away. Then Katie, who is male, appeared and fought with Henry. Poor Henry. That's all the food that's going out today.

Henry seems to understand I'm helping him chase the others away. Sometimes he gets scared and flies away too, but often I can concentrate my attention in such a way that the others leave while Henry stays, watching me.


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## malfunctional

It's crazy how they are so desperate for food in your area. You've said that there is plenty of food around but they still seem to go crazy over your food. At least with the promise of food your balcony will never be empty.

I've left food out all year and so far only one stranger has found it-Silverfoot. With the raised food tray all the birds can see these guys eating from where ever they are, so I'm actually quite surprised I don't have a mob. I've been lucky


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## Siam Sam

I think it's because I'm offering what to them must be some real gourmet stuff, and they don't even have to hunt for it. We still see them and other birds foraging around on the grounds next door. They're some pretty lush grounds. Why the ones in your neighborhood are turning up the beaks at it, who knows?


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## malfunctional

Well it's not at all that they are turning their beaks up at it, it's just that none of them seem to have found the stash, other than those born with it in front of them. Those ones eat like crazy.


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## Siam Sam

The new technique of pouring just a little out the door at a time has worked. We no longer have a big flock crowding the balcony. The situation is much more low key.

And now Henry seems to wait around every morning for snack time. This time of year, the sun does not shine directly through these windows, so we can leave those curtains open when we go to bed, and thus there is no scaring him in the morning by opening them. And when he sees me, he gets a little excited. I go get the food bag, show it to him and slowly, very slowly, open the door and pour some out onto the floor. He stays over on the rails and acts nervous. Makes these little grunting sounds that seem to indicate terror. But if I'm careful, he won't fly away. Then he comes and eats after I've come back in.

And Henry does not seem to be with Little Pidgee any longer. We've only seen her once or twice this past week. (Seemed to have a little diarrhea, too. Hope she's okay.) He keeps cooing in the morning and is now clearly interested in the female Pretty One. (The male Pretty One he still fights off.) And she seems inordinately interested in the inside of our place; keeps staring and staring inside, right up close at the window.

But Henry did keep trying to mount the girl when she came by to eat yesterday (Friday). He was unsuccesful, as she kept running away. It was hilarious!

But poor Little Pidgee. Again, her Great Love died, and she seems to just be throwing herself at different men now.


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## Siam Sam

Well, for whatever reason, things between Little Pidgee and Henry definitely have not worked out. Little Pidgee will show up alone from time to time now, and that's about it.

Worse, a couple of the pigeons coming around are very aggressive, and they'll bully her mercilessly until she flees. She seems a little shaky most of the time and grateful for the food we put out when we see her. But we have to stand by to shoo away other pidgees that see it and come try to chase her away.

Worse still, the most aggressive one is Katie, who turned out to be a male and is her son! About 13 months old now. He fought with Big Pidgee, his father, last year, fights with Henry now until we shoo him away. Very mean to his mother, too. You can see him here. Whenever we have to shoo away another pidgee, Little Pidgee and Henry both seem to understand we're on their side and trying to protect them.

Otherwise, things are about the same. Henry comes by and coos shortly after dawn. Then he'll look hopefully for his snack later in the morning when he senses we're up and about, then again in the afternoon if we're home. The Girl, his great unrequited love, still stops by occasionally, still spurning his advances.


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## Mindy

Thanks for the update. I hate to see pigeons fighting also. Especially children and there parents. Glad your there to keep them from really hurting one another and also glad your there to feed them. I'm sure it makes there lives alittle easier. min


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## Flamingo

This is a fantastic thread with fantastic pictures. Keep the soap opera going, it is great.


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## Siam Sam

Katie and Henry really lay into it too, just like Katie did with Dad. I have to admit a pidgee fight holds a certain fascination -- it looks so bizarre -- but we break it up right away.


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## mr squeaks

Glad you are able to break up the squabbles, Siam Sam!!

I know what you mean about fighting tho! Mr. Squeaks is KING of the apartment and does not take kindly to my other three pijies in his territory..._especially_ Dom!  Squeaks will attack him for the kill and Dom is a little bigger than Squeaks!

Obviously, while Dom, Gimie and Woe are out for their exercise in the bedroom, Squeaks and the cats are separated with me in the living room! 

Love and Hugs
Shi


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## Siam Sam

We've had a bad pidgee day today (Monday). No sign of Henry at all for some reason, and Little Pidgee had hopped up onto the rail that guides the sliding glass door to peer in and beg for food. So I put some out. Suddenly we had five pigeons, and they chased Little Pidgee away. I tried to shoo them away, but I finally gave up. Eventually they all left, and Little P was left to look around. No other pidgees in sight, so I poured a little more out. Next thing I know, Katie is here and has chased Mama away. 

This has gone on four times now. If Henry were here, he'd keep the others away. He knows this is snack time and is usually begging about now too.


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## malfunctional

I still find the difference between your ferals and mine quite amazing in that I don't have flocks arriving to raid the food. I have some possible theories. 

1) With mine Dad is always around to chase away unwelcomed visitors.
2) I am often around scaring unwelcomed visitors
3) My balcony rail is opaque which means that the feeding frenzies aren't obvious to outsiders
4) Perhaps there is more other food in the area

I'm most inclined to go for number 3 as I hardly ever see any other pigeons arrive. In fact other than Silverfoot I haven't seen any strangers in 6 months. Silverfoot however does know that there is food here and he comes by regularly so it would seem that once they have learnt where there is food, there is no going back


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## Siam Sam

You may be right. As you can see from my photos, we have no balcony wall, just a series of narrow rails. There's plenty of food in the area, but they sure do love this birdseed we put out. Back when we had squabs, a male adult -- Big Pidgee -- was here most of the day, and he took care to keep other pidgees away. But there was no food here at that time. Henry comes and goes, is often away for long stretches of the day.

We had a bit of a scare. Henry disappeared for a couple of days. He was last seen late Sunday afternoon, when he came by for a snack just before dark. We gave it to him, then he left. Then he was not seen again. Just when I thought he must have gone the way of Big Pidgee, the wife came home late yesterday afternoon (Tuesday afternoon), and there was Henry, begging for a snack. He was out there this morning, too. Went somewhere for the holidays maybe? Except he missed them by a couple of days.

Still leaves the green seeds, eating them only if he's still hungry and that's all that's left. My understanding is pigeons cannot see colors, but the green ones are noticeably darker than the others. I wonder what it is about them. The other pigeons treat them the same way. This is a birdseed mix that's labelled "dove food."


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## Mindy

So glad to hear that Henry is back. He is the king of your balcony. Maybe he was looking for a girlfriend. But so glad he is back. min


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## Siam Sam

The wife and I will be in Vietnam for most of April. I wonder if Henry will give up and start hanging out elsewhere while we're gone. Would be sad not to see him anymore. He's so pretty.


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## malfunctional

Hmm. I'm often away for several weeks. My guys just seem to make themselves more and more at home while we're away. I wouldn't worry.


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## malfunctional

Siam Sam said:


> Still leaves the green seeds, eating them only if he's still hungry and that's all that's left. My understanding is pigeons cannot see colors, but the green ones are noticeably darker than the others. I wonder what it is about them. The other pigeons treat them the same way. This is a birdseed mix that's labelled "dove food."


I checked this out and found the following
"Eyesight: Pigeon eyesight is excellent. Like humans, pigeons can see color, but they also can see ultraviolet light—part of the light spectrum that humans can’t see. Pigeons are sometimes used in human search-and-rescue missions because of their exceptional vision."


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## malfunctional

*Colours*



Siam Sam said:


> Still leaves the green seeds, eating them only if he's still hungry and that's all that's left. My understanding is pigeons cannot see colors, but the green ones are noticeably darker than the others. I wonder what it is about them. The other pigeons treat them the same way. This is a birdseed mix that's labelled "dove food."


I checked this out and found the following
"Eyesight: Pigeon eyesight is excellent. Like humans, pigeons can see color, but they also can see ultraviolet light—part of the light spectrum that humans can’t see. Pigeons are sometimes used in human search-and-rescue missions because of their exceptional vision."


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## Siam Sam

Thanks! I knew they had excellent vision, but I thought like almost all animals, they could not see colors.

EDIT: And under Color Vision in Wikipedia, I found this:

*"Other animals, such as tropical fish and birds, have more complex color vision systems than humans. In the latter example, tetrachromacy is achieved through up to four cone types, depending on species. Brightly colored oil droplets inside the cones shift or narrow the spectral sensitivity of the cell. It has been suggested that it is likely that pigeons are pentachromats. Eutherian mammals other than primates generally have less-effective two-receptor (dichromatic) color perception systems. Marine mammals have only a single cone type and are thus monochromats. Several marsupials such as the fat-tailed dunnart (Sminthopsis crassicaudata) have been shown to have trichromatic color vision. Many invertebrates have color vision. Honey- and bumblebees have trichromatic color vision, which is insensitive to red but sensitive in ultraviolet. Papilio butterflies apparently have tetrachromatic color vision despite possessing six photoreceptor types. The most complex color vision system in animal kingdom has been found in stomatopods with up to 12 different spectral receptor types which are thought to work as multiple dichromatic units. Some nocturnal geckos have the capability of seeing color in dim light."*


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## Siam Sam

Our building held it's annual meeting yesterday (Saturday), and afterward, while the unit owners were standing around chatting informally among themselves and with the office staff, some others on the lower floors mentioned there sure were a lot of pigeons around. The wife was like: "Uh, pigeons, yeah. Yeah, uh, we have to clean our balcony every week too, those darn pigeons."

So we definitely want to keep the scrum down if we can. Now we're doling out a little food at a time for Henry or Little Pidgee and only if no other pigeons are around. Henry will chase the others away anyway, but no sense encouraging them. He's a true gentleman with Little Pidgee, though. Lets her eat and does not chase her away. They don't mate anymore, though. I wonder what the problem was.


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## Siam Sam

We've removed the empty flower box for now. The female Pretty One and a new one that resembles Little Pidgee were getting frisky out on the balcony and also showing signs of being inerested in the box. I'm afraid that's going to be trouble, as Henry chases them away whenever he sees them. Plus now the wife is a bit skittish after hearing the pigeon remarls last weekend from other residents.

If anyone's going to live here, we want it to be Henry. If it was with Little Pidgee, that would be a bonus. But they don't seem interested in each other in that way now. They are friends, though. He lets her in to eat without chasing her away or trying to have his way with her. We put a little food out whenever we see them out there. But if it's only Little P, we'll put food out only if no other pidgees are around, as they'll chase her away from it otherwise. Henry can always chase the others away himself.


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## Siam Sam

Henry does not flee from the balcony now if he sees us coming to open the door, as he figures (hopes) it's feeding time, especially if we're holding the magic bag of food. He will move to the edge of the balcony, though.

A couple of times now, I've sat down in front of the open door holding a handful of seed stretched out, to try to persuade him to come eat out of my hand. He looks interested, but nothing doing. He won't come over until I've poured it onto the floor and closed the door. Little Pidgee, too.


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## malfunctional

I've tried the eating out of my hand things too. No luck. I did leave my balcony door open yesterday and Mom came all the way in to check out the flat. I was in the bedroom and saw her run past into the bathroom. Odd. And then I found a poop in the kitchen. She definitely owns the place.


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## Siam Sam

That's hilarious! 

Henry showed up yesterday with a girlfriend! A new pidgee we hadn't seen before. Resembles Little Pidgee, except she's much darker in the face and breast. That part is almost black, like Jack, but not quite. They didn't kiss, but he was preening her head. He never did that for Little Pidgee, just she to him. Plus he stood guard while she ate. Could be love! May have to put the flower box back out soon, although that other couple keeps coming around, too.


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## malfunctional

It gets better than that. Later on yesterday I went into the lounge to discover Mom and Dad looking very embarrassed. They sedately walked back out onto the balcony as if nothing had happened, but Dad had a twig in his mouth. Clearly Mom had been scouting out a place for their next nest and was directing Dad where to go, They definitely own this place.

Good to know that Henry has a girl. My pigeon seem to always stick to the first mate they find although a sample set of two is probably not enough to generalise.


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## Siam Sam

Well, it seems to be official now: Henry and the new pigeon, whom we've dubbed Maggie, are a couple. Maggie's coloring on the face and breast IS black, not "almost black" like I said before. The wife suggested naming her Jackie, since we named the last black one Jack, as in Jack Black, but I pointed out it looked like Jack was probably a girl, because the last time we saw, Jack was in the company of Marty. We've not seen either of them for a long time, so maybe they've run away together. Wonder if Maggie is related to Jack. Besides her black face and breast, she's gray like Little Pidgee, and her markings resemble those of Little P, right down to a line of "dots" above her wilg stripes.

Anyway, I got up early this morning (Sunday morning) and opened the curtains. Still felt groggy, so flopped back into bed. Got up again a little later and saw Henry and Maggie out there. Henry was preening her head, and they were kissing. I called to the wife, and we both watched from a distance, far enough back that they could not see us. Then they did it! Yay! 

With Little Pidgee, Henry was always passive. She was the instigator, and he just sort of went along with it. I don't think there was ever any kissing, and it was only Little P preening Henry's head, never vice versa. But he seeemd to like her okay. With Maggie, he seems to be an equal participant.

We then showed ourselves, and the funny thing is as soon as Henry saw us, he walked straight to the spot where we pour out the food and stared at the floor. He must think we can make the food magically appear! No, Henry, we told him, it takes a minute to go get the bag and pour some out. They ate a hearty breakfast.

I tried to hand feed again, and they came closer. Maybe they'll do it eventually. Just have to keep at it.

Maggie just appeared out of nowhere on I think it was Thursday. She seems impressed with the place and with Henry. We don't want to put the flower box out again yet, because that other couple is still coming around. Plus the wife is still worried about the neighbors; the one right above us could see the box if he stuck his head out certain of his windows. If he ever saw it the 1-1/2 years we had it out there before, he never said anything. Maybe he likes pidgees, too! But that unit the owner rents out, and we don't know if it's the same tenant. We only know there's a guy living there now because of some problems with water leaking from his unit that had to be fixed. But the wife is also still paranoind about the pidgee remarks from other tenants earlier this month. We'll wait awhile.

Unfortunately, we've not seen Little Pidgee for several days now, not since before Maggie appeared on the scene. Hope the poor girl is okay.


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## Siam Sam

I am pleased to report that Henry and the new pidgee, now dubbed Maggie, seem to be an official couple, as they did the deed on Sunday morning.

I got up early and opened the curtains to the balcony. No one out there. But I was still groggy, so I went and flopped back into bed. When I got up again a short while later, I saw Henry preening Maggie. Then they started kissing. I called to the wife, and we watched from a distance. They hadn't seen us. Then they did the deed! 

They've been together a lot since, but Maggie seems to like our place, hanging around a lot of times even when Henry is off somewehere else. Her face and breast actually are black, not "almost black" like I said before. Definitely black. But the rest of her is gray, with the two wing stripes, like Little Pidgee. Looks like a cross between Jack and Little Pidgee. The wife wanted to name her Jackie, since we had a Jack, as in Jack Black, but I pointed out Jack probably was a girl after all, since he/she was finally repeatedly seen in the company of Marty before they both disappeared. So that was probably Jackie instead of Jack. Thus, Maggie it is.

May have to put the flower box back out, but that other couple keeps coming around. One of the Pretty Ones and the Little Pidgee near-lookalike. We don't want to encourage them, as they seemed to be looking for a nesting spot. Henry would not approve.

Unfortunately, we've not seen Little Pidgee for going on a week now.  Not since before Maggie first appeared last Thursday.

Maggie must think she's hit the jackpot. Seems young; never saw her before last Thursday. Found a place with food, water and a mate. 

And she does coo sometimes. Maggie's the first female pidgee we've heard coo out there. Sounds a bit odd, like her voice is strained.


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## malfunctional

That's excellent news. Our Mom coos sometimes, but not often. It is usually after Dad has been coaxing her for awhile to climb into whatever flower box it is with him. When she eventually gets in she often makes the strained cooing noise. It really is quite different from the rest, which is how I can always tell things are going well and babies are on their way soon.


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## mr squeaks

I hear you about the hen cooing...WoeBeGone has a high pitched softer coo that is quite different from the louder (MUCH louder) more robust sounds of Gimie and Dom! 

SENDING ALL OUR BEST TO THE BALCONY PIJIES!!

Love, Hugs and Scritches

Shi/Squeaks/Dom/Gimie/Woe


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## Siam Sam

I hope to post some photos of Maggie this weekend. In the meantime, they've been "doing it" quite a bit, so we've stuck the flower box back outside in case they need a place for a nest. We've not put dirt in it yet, though. But Marty seems to have left for good, and he's the one who really tossed the dirt out looking for food, so we may soon. Might wait to see if they really are interested in using the box.

She eats A LOT. More than Henry, if for no other reason than he has to rush around like a Keystone Kop chasing the other couple away. But he'll often stand guard while she eats. A true gentleman.

Sadly, Little Pidgee seems to have disappeared. No sign of her for more than a week now.

Our technique of targeted feeding has worked to a certain extent. We still get a few visits from other pidgees, but nothing like before.


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## TerriB

Glad the targeted feeding is working. It is a bit of a balancing act.

I wonder if Little Pidgee might have paired up with a new bird and is visiting other areas to feed?


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## Siam Sam

I hope that's it. It's now been two full week's since we've seen her. She'd been here 20 full months. We'd like not to think the worst.

As you can see I've still not posted new photos. I am very bad about getting around to those things but promise to get some up by this weekend.

Meanwhile, Henry and Maggie are now a solid couple. Preen each other a lot. Do the deed. They know to look every morning for a feeding, so we usually see them waiting. Henry still thinks the food will magically appear in an instant. We think other pigeons watch them from afar now to see when they disappear from the edge of the balcony to start eating, as once we give the couple their morning feeding, lots more flock over here, and Henry gets busy acting the bouncer. Funny but he literally chases most of them away except Katie. Katie, who is actually a male, is very tough and just ignores Henry, so Henry resorts to doing his Angry Dance and giving bad looks to Katie, who just keeps on eating. I have to step in and help at that point.

No apparent interest in the flower box yet. It would be nice to have some squabs again, and I'd love to see what Henry's turn out to look like.

Photos soon, I promise!


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## malfunctional

My seven pigeons visit everyday with out fail. I still only have one stray come by other than the family and he's not so regular. I'm sure you're right about the other pigeons watching, but I still have no idea why none have figure out about my place especially as they can easily be seen eating from the raised food dish by anyone at the local hang out-a big house with a slanted roof just down the road.

As for the chasing, Dad is usually on patrol. Even when he's not around he watches the balcony and we arrive within a couple of seconds of any of them coming for a feed. He does however manage to miss them regularly enough that they all get a feed every day, however this is mostly through their persistence.

Good luck with Henry! I'm moving to Canada shortly. Hopefully I'll be able to start up a wild pigeon balcony there too.


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## Siam Sam

Okay, the promised photos, all taken over about a month's time, between December 26 and this past Thursday.

First, a few of Henry, all last month. Henry feeding. Henry staring. Three-quarters view.

Then Maggie appeared out of nowhere one day, I think it was Friday, January 15, and has been here ever since, but never at night. She has a black head and breast, but the rest of her is gray, but not light gray, dark gray, with a bit of Little Pidgee wing markings. May be related. And she doesn't seem to show up as well in photos, I guess because she's so dark.

If we leave the sliding glass doors open but close the inner screen doors, Maggie often likes to jump up on the ledge between the two and stare inside. Maggie eyes the food bag. (Actually, she's staring at me, I think.) And taking a stroll.

Maggie. You can see how orange her eye looks in this one. It's because her head is so black. It gives her sort of a demonic look sometimes, especially when she stares at us, which she likes to do. The wife says it's like she's from the Addams Family, so we often refer to her as Miss Maggie Addams.  (Someone said Henry was a Blue Grizzle, so we often call him Mr. Henry Blue Grizzle.)

Maggie squeezing under the rail. One of Henry in a pensive mood. And Maggie in her best Marilyn Monroe pose. And Maggie again.

Meal time! The couple share a meal. Still eating. And eating still. I took those while sitting before them with the doors open. They still won't come eat out of my hand, but if I'm very still, they will come close, especially if there's food on the floor. Henry often has to break off eating to go chase other pidgees away, while Maggie keeps on eating. And a little postprandial nookie. In the designated sex area, of course.  That's Henry at the Moment of Truth; you can't see Maggie, but she's there.

And a couple of days later, the loving couple.

Maggie at rest.

A couple of tiny birds have started showing up, taking advantage of the water and the stray seed the pidgees may have missed. We don't know what kind of birds they are. One of them is here. Henry is feeding on the far right. And here's a zoom shot of the little guy, but it's a bit out of focus.


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## malfunctional

Wow. Very cool pictures.


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## Siam Sam

Thanks! And good luck in Canada!

I've been informed the little bird is a Eurasian tree sparrow. The Wikipedia entry seems to confirm that.


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## Siam Sam

I think word is getting out among the sparrows. There were three (3) of the little guys out there today.


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## Siam Sam

Meanwhile, there are plans to renovate a large park in central Bangkok, called Sanam Luang, which necessitates the removal of an estimated 10,000 feral pigeons. This has proved highly controversial. Stories here and here.

Last night (Tuesday night) on TV, the wife saw an "expert" trying to reassure people who had raised the question of parents and squabs. This "expert" said each of the birds would have their bills inspected, and if it the rim of the bill were dirty, that would be a sign it was a mother involved in feeding her babies. What the ... ???  Some "expert." Sheesh! Never mind that fathers feed, too, and probably more than the mothers. And even if all of that were true, he didn't say what then. And I'm very sure these very low-paid municipal employees are going to inspect the bills of each and every one of these 10,000 pigeons.


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## c.hert

There are experts like that all over the world--scary---isn't it---and I wonder how the world survives--its amazing----c.hert


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## mr squeaks

BEAUTIFUL PICTURES!

Henry is one gorgeous pij!!

Good heavens, 10,000 pigeons?? EEEK! Good luck with that!

Thank you so much for posting, Siam Sam, and letting us get to meet your lovelies up close and personal!

Love and Hugs

Shi/Mr. Squeaks/Dom/Gimie/WoeBeGone


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## Siam Sam

Henry and Maggie have been together a full three weeks today (Friday). She must think she's found food heaven. Eats a LOT more than Henry does. Henry always finishes first, while Maggie keeps on feeding. And then Henry, true gentleman that he is, does a very cute thing: He stands guard while she continues eating. He is noticeably doing this, standing erect like a soldier, I guess to protect her.

I don't think Maggie has laid any eggs anywhere. They both hang out here for most of the day. If they had eggs, one of them would be sitting on them. And they don't seem interested in building a nest in the flower box. They've sure been going at it like teenagers, though.


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## Siam Sam

Maggie did try jumping up on an edge of the flower box a day or two ago, and it almost tipped over. Then she hopped to the other side of it, and again it almost tipped. That could be making them shy away from it. We'll put some more dirt in this weekend.

The Pretty One and Scruffy keep hanging around too, though. They seem to want to live here, but Henry chases them away whenever he's around.


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## Siam Sam

There's been a change, and a sudden one. Starting this past Sunday, they don't show up together much anymore. And not as often separately. Not as affectionate as before when they are here together. We're wondering if they have laid eggs somewhere else and are tending to those now. But Henry will still show up mid-day, when you'd think he should be on the nest, so it's hard to say. Sure would like to see what his squabs turn out looking like.

The season IS changing now. We've pretty much left what is laughably referred to as the cool season and entering the hot season. (April is THE hottest month here; March and April are both hellish.) I wonder if the seasonal change is responsible in some way, but we've not noticed anything like that before.


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## malfunctional

Sounds like they have eggs to me! My Dad pigeon would leave the nest around mid day quite often to go get some food. I think when it's hot they don't need to sit on the eggs full time. It's good to note when who comes around and for how for how many days. From my bunch Bangers and Abby had a couple of batches of squabs. As they grow so quickly it is easy to time things to the nearest day. 19 days on eggs and 10 nights sleeping on squabs, so they are usually back together more consistently after a month.

Oh and my Mom and Dad pigeon had one batch elsewhere and brought the baby along to teach to eat when it was old enough. So you should hopefully get to see what their little ones look like, but it'll be a bit of a wait. Probably 50 days or so.


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## Siam Sam

That will be almost time for us to be in Vietnam. Hope we see them!


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## Siam Sam

Henry and Maggie have taken to coming around more often together, but Henry is still gone in the afternoons. So who knows what's going on with them. There has been a new addition, one that resembles Maggie, except darker in the face and breast and with feet that are sort of black but with the fuchsia coloring coming through. We've named her Blackfoot. Henry seems okay with her, and indeed I thought it was Maggie at first. While she was eating, she got a little too close to Henry, who pecked at her a bit. Not viciously, just a warning, but I thought that was odd, since I'd never seen him peck at Maggie before. Then I noticed it was not Maggie. The moustache is a charcoal gray too, whereas Maggie's is white. Henry and Maggie have both welcomed Blackfoot.

Otherwise it's become a chore to keep the other pidgees away while Henry is not here. Without Henry to protect her, they'll snap at her and chase her away. But as I said, he's around more often now.


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## Siam Sam

There has been an odd development. This new pigeon, Blackfoot, will chase Henry away from the food! Not off of the balcony, just away from where the food is. This is a very small pidgee, smaller than Maggie, so we're pretty sure it's a female. But Henry is very timid around her. He still chases away much larger male pidgees, but he seems meek as a kitten around Blackfoot. And this is a complete change from a few days ago when Blackfoot first appeared, and Henry pecked at _her_ for getting too close to him while he's eating.

Now Blackfoot appears every morning for her meal and will chase Henry away from any food we put out. If there is no food, she hunts around, burrowing behind the rubber sandals leaning against the wall or the squeegees and other implements, the first time we've seen any of the birds do that. But this sudden bullying of Henry and his just taking it is really puzzling us. This just started yesterday (Saturday), so we've not seen if she does the same with Maggie yet.

And a couple of times, when Henry and Blackfoot were both on the green concrete edge of the balcony, it looked like Henry actually pecked at her lightly in an attempt to chase her toward the food, like he wanted her to eat.


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## Siam Sam

Okay, we've just seen Maggie get chased away from the food. This is bizarre. Blackfoot's just come in and taken over. We can't understand why Henry won't do anything about it.


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## Siam Sam

We've had to stop putting food out almost completely now. The evil Blackfoot, as she's now known, sticks to Henry like a shadow. Until we put food out, then she chases him away! And Henry just takes it! While still chasing away larger male pigeons. We have no idea why he's so intimidated by her, but there's no point in putting food out for him if he can't get it. And it's sad when he starts looking in the window begging, but there's Blackfoot right behind him. The best we can manage now is little snatches of food for him -- and Maggie -- if Blackfoot's not there, but she usually shows up right away. Must be monitoring us.

She doesn't care if they're on the balcony; she just won't let them near any food.


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## malfunctional

Oh dear. Poor Henry. I think size doesn't matter in the pigeon world. One of the pigeons that used to come past my balcony was massive, but Dad would still scare him away.


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## Siam Sam

Looks like the Pretty One, whom Henry always chases away, himself chases Blackfoot away!

Pidgee social dynamics are really complicated.


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## Siam Sam

In the last couple of days, Henry and Maggie both seem to have finally grown tired of Blackfoot's nonsense and have fought back, easily chasing Blackfoot away.


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## malfunctional

Excellent. Go Henry


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## Siam Sam

Henry and Maggie are continuing to keep Blackfoot away from the food, although one day this week the tables turned again, and Maggie returned to being afraid of Blackfoot. But just that one day. Very odd.

Poor Blackfoot still likes to hang out on the balcony though, especially midday when the other two are gone. Will snooze in the "living room," as we call the big tree pot on the right.

A new pidgee appeared on Thursday. Seems very young. Lands awkwardly. We don't think it's Henry and Maggie's squab, as they don't act like parents to it, but it's definitely young. Cute as it creeps up to the food shyly, but then Henry and Maggie chase it away.

And Henry and Maggie have started "doing it" again.


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## Siam Sam

Whoa! We may have seen Henry's squab! Saturday morning here, and a small version of Henry appeared! Along with three or four other pidgees, because I'd just put food out for Henry and Maggie. Henry was ANGRY and chasing everyone away except Maggie, including Little Henry. A lot more black dots on the throat and no black lining along the edges of the white wings, but otherwise like a Mini Me of Henry. Looks funny when it flies.

But I wonder if the time line matches. Without looking back, I think I remember Maggie appearing mid-January. Then they started doing it a week or two later. Hmmm. I don't think this one is young enough. And we don't see any "baby fuzz" residue. But it is definitely young and bears a striking resemblance to Henry. I'll try to get a photo.


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## Frank-NC

thanks for the pics and updates of the birds , love to see new ones and hear more about your lovely birds


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## Siam Sam

The little Henry-looking pidgee has not appeared again. Showed up only on Saturday, and it's late Monday morning now.

We're having a problem again with too many pigeons. Yesterday and today, we get up to see 6 or 7 waiting outside! Including Henry and Maggie! If there's no food, he's just sort of given up. If there IS food, he spends all his time chasing the others away, with 2 or 3 slipping in when he's off chasing one. Word is spreading among the pidgees once again, and we have no choice but to stop feeding unless only Henry and Maggie are here. But Henry stares in so plaintively. 

Blackfoot and a very new young one we call the Kid now remain behind after everyone else has given up, and these two just sort of hang out and snooze all day. We really want to accommodate only Henry and Maggie, lest the jig becomes up with the neighbors and building management, but we won't chase them away; we just won't feed them -- we do keep water out there -- and maybe they'll eventually go off to hunt for food somewhere else.


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## Siam Sam

Still trying targeted feeding, but a small group know to keep tabs on us, so even if Henry and/or Maggie are here alone, others show up as soon as we put food out. But we can't cut Henry and Maggie off, so we try to sneak them small lots. But Henry -- and Maggie too, she's a real fighter -- often spend most of the time chasing other pidgees away instead of enjoying their meal.

I mentioned two young ones that we've been calling Henry Jr. and the Kid. Henry Jr. has started showing up again, every day. We're more and more certain they must belong to Henry and Maggie, but as eggs they would almost certainly have had to been laid before Maggie first showed up here on our balcony in mid-January. They don't try to feed off of Henry or Maggie, but Jr. looks _so much_ like Henry. The Kid is just your normal gray pidgee a la Little Pidgee -- or Maggie, but not as dark in the face and neck -- but with a very smooth-looking and iridescent neck area, very feminine-looking. We think Jr. and the Kid _must_ be siblings, with Jr. the younger one. He has a very cute way of flying, like he just recently learned.

And a success! The Kid yesterday (Saturday) ate out of my hand! And out of the wife's hand this morning. I have photos and will post them sometime this weekend. (There's some political unrest happening throughout the city this weekend, and it's not very wide to venture out right now, so I should have time.) Sat inside with my hand stretched out to the balcony and remained motionless. The Kid finally worked up the nerve to come pecking. I tried not to move, so I didn't really look around, but the wife said Henry looked positively shocked that the Kid would do such a thing. Maggie seemed to be thinking about it, and she did come close, but simply could not work up the nerve.

Henry keeps chasing Jr. away aggressively but will chase the Kid only half-heartedly. Wonder why.


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## marketing17

I looked out about 8am this morning, and sure enough, there's Henry sitting in the box again. (He really likes the flower box.) He's gone off somewhere now, but it looks like he may have eaten the food on the floor but not touched what was in the box.


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## Siam Sam

marketing17 said:


> I looked out about 8am this morning, and sure enough, there's Henry sitting in the box again. (He really likes the flower box.) He's gone off somewhere now, but it looks like he may have eaten the food on the floor but not touched what was in the box.


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## Siam Sam

New photos!

Maggie and Henry. Maggie looks like a normal pidgee, but Henry just looks like a stuffed doll, both in photos and in person. A really beautiful bird.

Maggie gets comfortable inside the flower box. Note that she's on one leg. We had hoped this meant they might build a nest there, but no.

Maggie and a little guy, one of the Eurasian tree sparrows that have taken to stopping by.

Maggie snoozing, on one leg on the edge of the flower box.

Henry eating.

Finally we have Henry Jr., on the rail. Note the extra blackness on the throat. And you cannot see it here, but this one's right wing is pure right. If you look at the previous photo, of Henry, you can see his right wing is white with a dark lining, but not Junior's. Junior's left wing does have a pattern, though, as you'll see shortly.

And now what you've all been waiting for: Me feeding the Kid. Henry's looking slightly aghast, Maggie seems to be thinking about it; we're fairly sure they are the parents, even though Henry chases the two younger ones away, especially Junior.

Still feeding the Kid. Maggie looks really interested, but she just could not bring herself to do it. This is as close as she dared come.

Henry Jr. in our dining-room window. You can see the design on his -- or her -- left wing here, similar to Henry's. Less black on top of the head, too.

We think Henry Jr. must be the younger sibling, because the Kid seems more confident, and Junior has this really cute way of flying, like a novice. For some reason Henry REALLY does not want Junior here. When he chases the Kid, it's more half-hearted, but he really goes after Junior. Maybe annoyed because the squabs followed him and discovered this daytime hideaway?


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## Siam Sam

We are absolutely convinced the Kid and Junior are siblings. They act the part. Junior's disappeared again though, but the Kid keeps coming around and is pretty bold. This one has some guts to her. She'll even fly to the dining-room window to stare in at us if we're not forthcoming with food. And she'll still eat out of our hands, although she remains skittish.

Henry and Maggie are back to "doing it" pretty regularly and are often here together again. She must not have laid new eggs yet wherever their nest is.

Only 2-1/2 weeks until we leave. I'm already starting to worry about how disappointed Henry and Maggie will be. Hope they're still around when we return.


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## Siam Sam

Junior showed up again recently, and so did another small white one! Now we don't know who belongs to whom.


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## mr squeaks

Siam Sam said:


> Junior showed up again recently, and so did another small white one! Now we don't know who belongs to whom.



"Them's pigeons for ya!"

Sending our BEST to ALL with LOVE and HUGS

Shi/Mr. Squeaks/Dom/Gimie/WoeBeGone


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## Siam Sam

I guess the Kid is getting older and wiser, because she's stopped hand-feeding. Won't come that close now. Has lost her innocence.

That new white one has not returned, but one did stop by the other day that looked black and white in roughly equal measures. Just saw it the one time, though.

Henry Jr stops by more often and is definitely a male. He's started doing Angry Dances against other pigeons and seems to consider this his place now. Has even pecked at a couple. But for some reason, Henry himself positively HATES Junior, will become enraged at his sight.


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## Siam Sam

A few more photos before we head out of here this weekend. Again, we are 99.99% certain that Henry Jr. and the Kid are brother/sister and 95% certain that Henry and Maggie are the parents.

*Sunday, March 14*
Mrs. Siam Sam hand-feeds the Kid. This is when we could still coax the Kid into doing this. She won't come close now. Must have figured out it's possibly not a good idea to get very close to humans.


*Sunday, March 28*
Henry Jr. and the Kid lounging on the window frames.

And with Maggie, who is probably their mother and here is practicing her ballet. We expect they'll all be spending a lot more time over there on the mansion grounds while we're away.


*Wednesday, March 31*
The Kid and Henry Jr. hangin'. And then Junior gets comfy while the Kid starts checking me out.


Henry still comes around of course, but I have no new interesting shots of him. But remains master of the balcony. We're getting a little _too_ many pidgees coming around again, and Henry spends _a lot_ of his time running around and chasing them away. As much as we'll miss Henry and Maggie -- and even Junior and the Kid -- we're hoping many of the regular crew will take the next few weeks as a cue to go out into the world. Blackfoot too, he -- and he's a he for sure, as we've seen him do the male puffing out of the throat -- just likes to lounge around in the tree pots, hoping to eat whatever leftovers Henry leaves behind. The Pretty One acts the big boss when Henry's not around but gets chased off by Henry when he returns. Henry Jr. acts the big boss when Henry and the Pretty One are both gone.


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## mr squeaks

Many thanks for the latest!

Enjoy your trip and we will look forward to updates when you return!

From the pictures posted, I don't think they will have a problem with food while you are gone!

Love and Hugs
Shi and the gang


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## c.hert

Enjoy your pictures and enjoy your trip--pretty balcony...c.hert


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## Siam Sam

And we're back. Got in late Tuesday night. A sad scene of on the balcony: Empty water dish and little-enough bird poo that we figured the pigeons may have stopped coming around. The morning we left, we dumped a _bunch_ of food out there for Henry, who was gobbling it up. He must have thought life was so good. Then we disappeared. I wonder how often he and Maggie stopped by to check before finally giving up.

On Wednesday, saw a couple of pidgees in the morning: one of the two Pretty Ones and an indeterminate gray one.

Then while cleaning the balcony in the afternoon, I _may_ have spotted Maggie far over on the window frames, along with what looked to be Junior.

And then finally today (Thursday), around lunchtime, Henry appeared!  He looked hopeful. Fed him and he ate it all up. I'm wondering now if it was Junior or Henry himself I saw yesterday. But Henry knows we're back now, and we're going to try to keep the feeding very low-key, so we don't end up with an unmanageable flock again.

The trip was good. Funny thing is we saw only two or three pigeons in Hanoi, then not a single one again until Ho Chi Minh City, the former Saigon. Plenty there around Notre Dame Cathedral and especially in one small street, where someone had put out flat baskets of rice for them. Will try to post some of their photos. In that side street, the pidgees were roosting in the trees, which we hadn't seen before.


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## Siam Sam

Woo-hoo! Maggie's back.  She appeared this morning (Saturday morning). Fed her, and Henry of course let her eat. They also kept "doing it" out there. The wife is convinced our balcony is the only place they have sex. At one point, Henry had his way with her while she was eating! No foreplay or anything, just started rubbing up against her a little, then tried to climb on in back. She stopped eating for a moment, hunched down a little, Henry did his thing, and she resumed eating. Didn't even strut around a bit like she usually does post-coitus.

We fed them both a fair amount, and no other pidgees tried coming around. Then we had to leave for the day and did not return until after dark. They probably think we've left again!


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## mr squeaks

Guess Maggie figured the best thing to do was let Henry "have his way" so she could get back to what was important at the moment...FOOD!!

ROFL...

Glad YOU and THEY are baaaack!!

Love, Hugs and Scritches
Shi


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## c.hert

Sounds like a real interesting balcony you have Siam Sam and I am glad Maggie is back...c.hert


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## Siam Sam

Thanks. We put the flower box back out. Maggie likes perching on it, but so there's far no interest in building a nest there. We wish they would. They've been going at it like teenagers again, so new eggs should be coming soon. Wonder where their nest is.

It's back to the old routine, with the couple coming around for breakfast and lunch. They seem oddly missing in the late afternoon, though. And no big flock now. Much more manageable. Scruffy and one of the Pretty Ones still come by to clean up the couple's leftovers.


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## Siam Sam

And now for something a little different: Vietnamese pidgees! Three shots, all taken in Ho Chi Minh City, the former Saigon, in mid-April.

This one is outside of Notre Dame Cathedral, which is off camera to the right. That's a statue of the Virgin Mary and her baby. The pidgees are on the ground. Okay, you can't see them very well, I know. I was going to take a closer shot when they all flew off, apparently because food had been detected some distance away.

This one and this one are clearer. The kind folks in the shophouse behind seem to have put food out for the pidgees during the lunch hour. This was in a small street near our hotel.

We saw only two or three pigeons in Hanoi, then nary a one until Ho Chi Minh City. There they were plentiful in the Dong Khoi area where we stayed, especially around Notre Dame Cathedral and the Opera House.

Meanwhile back home here in Bangkok, this time of year, the hottest, the sun comes blasting in until late morning, so we have to keep the balcony curtains closed until close to 11am. But sometimes Henry can spot us inside through the crack dividing the two curtains. Then he'll jump up onto the metal strip that the glass door slides along -- it forms a little ledge outside -- and flap his wings. It's a narrow space, and this causes his beak to tap on the glass a bit, too. Letting us know he's out there and has seen us, and do we have anythjing for him? Very cute.


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## Siam Sam

The wife said yesterday evening (Wednesday evening), Henry tried to mount Maggie four times while she was eating, but she would not cooperate. Just wanted to eat. He finally gave up and flew away. 

We had a huge downpour about dawn this morning, and Maggie looked drenched when she showed up today.


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## mr squeaks

Guess Henry has to learn the hard way...never interrupt a lady when she's eating!

A nice shower is good for them!

Love your updates!

Woe only laid one egg this time around and Mr. Squeaks is happily sitting on it. Due to Gimie's bum leg, I have to give them a dummie egg...and Woe's eggs are not fertile due to Gimie's leg. 

Sending Love, Hugs and Scritches from

Shi and Mr. Squeaks/Dom/Gimie/WoeBeGone


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## Siam Sam

Well, an interesting development. Henry showed up yesterday (Wednesday) with what looked to be his daughter!

At first glance, we thought it was Junior again, but no, this one had a different head, although a Dalmatian body. We think it's a girl, because it has sort of a feminine face. Very young, the moustache is still not developed. Still flies and lands awkwardly. A cute and innocent face, staring out at the new world. She must have just recently started flying and followed Daddy here from wherever their nest is. Seemed to stay close to Henry, who oddly did not chase her away. What clinched that she's his kid was Henry gave her a feeding! I missed that, but the wife saw it.

She came around once this morning, too. Sits on the window frames and stares at the wide world below. Very cute. Will try to get a photo.


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## mr squeaks

Sounds like a true "DADDY'S GIRL!" 

Will love to see a picture!

Love and Hugs

Shi


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## Siam Sam

The daughter has started coming around regularly, and Henry seems attentive. Strange, because he clearly wanted Junior to go away, and Junior looked so much like him it had to be his son. Maybe he's partial to girls?

We thought he was cooing for Maggie yesterday, but the daughter showed up. Was he cooing for her? Or was he cooing for Maggie, and the daughter heard him and flew down? He feeds her from time to time -- I still haven't seen it myself, but the wife has -- and seems generally protective when other pidgees come around.

I'm a little worried about Maggie, as I've not seen her for a few days, and when I did see her last, she looked a little bedraggled. Not sick, but even more disheveled than usual. Almost like she was all wet even though it had not been raining at the time. The wife thinks she saw Maggie a couple of days ago, but it's odd she's not been coming around.

The wife took some shots of the daughter. Will try to get those posted soon.


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## Siam Sam

New photos! 

Henry's daughter comes around regularly now, so we've named her Susie. There was supposed to a Susie last year, the sibling of poor little Bob, but that egg turned out to be unfertilized, so we decided it would be okay to name this one Susie. (Besides, that was a different parent set anyway.)

Susie eats on her own now, pecking around. Does not rely on Dad for feedings anymore; no further feedings have been seen beyond the two the wife witnessed. But this afternoon, when Dad and Susie were eating together right outside our balcony door, Susie kept doing the "squab squeal." She was not bugging Dad to be fed, she was eating fine on her own, but the entire time she was eating, we could hear her going: "Squeal, squeal, squeal." Just like a squab! Could that have been out of contentment, like a cat's purr?

She has lost all of her baby fuzz but is still very young. And she seems to have decided she likes it here. Unfortunately, the Pretty One comes by and bullies her if Dad's not around. And Henry is very attentive to his daughter. Even likes to help groom her.

Now the photos, all from today (Sunday, May 16):

Henry and Susie together on the window frames. That's the proud father on the left. And two more here and here, still with Henry on the left and Susie on the right.

Father and daughter share a meal. Then Susie checks out Dad.

Susie gives me the eye. Then she found a perch on the little spirit house.

I'm still worried about Maggie. She seems to have disappeared.  Hopefully, she's just busy tending fresh eggs somewhere.


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## mr squeaks

I hope Maggie is OK too, SS...

MANY THANKS for updating us with pictures!

Susie is as LOVELY as her Dad is HANDSOME!!

Look forward to many wonderful "Tales (Tails??? ) From the Balcony!"

Love, Hugs and Scritches

Shi


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## Siam Sam

Thanks yourself! 

The wife is still seeing Henry feed Susie, so she's at the intermediate stage where she can eat on her own or get a feeding from Dad. I wonder where her sibling is, assuming she has one.

I am fearing the worst for poor Maggie.


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## malfunctional

If Suzie is at that age, there is a good chance that Maggie is on another nest. Take note of the times that Henry is there? He's most likely not around between 10am and 3pm. Although that doesn't explain why Maggie is not around at the other times. Perhaps Henry protected Maggie while eating, but now that they aren't together she is not brave enough.

Just some thoughts. Thanks for the pics.

I'm still waiting to start up a pigeon family here in Toronto. I've got a top floor apartment, which doesn't have shelter from the balcony above, so it's not a good spot for pigeons. There are plenty of birds in the neighbourhood though.


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## Siam Sam

Good luck with the Canadian pidgees. Maybe rig up a makeshift "roof" for part of the balcony? We thought about Maggie maybe being on eggs now, but no, she does not come around during the time Henry would be on the eggs. She was never shy before about coming here on her own. Henry is gone for much of midday but still pops in from time to time, so it's hard to tell if he's just taking a break from nearby eggs or what.

Odd, but there's another pigeon that has showed up who acts like Maggie but does not really look like Maggie. Looks like her a little but not exactly. Head and neck area are lighter, for example, and feathers not as kerfuffled as Maggie's usually are. Seems to know us and keeps begging hard for food. And Henry is okay with her being here, although they haven't gotten frisky. Surely Maggie could not have changed appearance? 

Susie took a little bath yesterday morning (Thursday morning).  Could not take a photo, because we could see it only through the crack in the closed curtains, and moving them would have disturbed her.

Henry actually pecked at her in the afternoon while they were eating, so maybe he feels it's time for her to strike out on her own. The wife poured a separate little pile for her, and he was okay with her eating that.


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## mr squeaks

I understand that pigeons CAN change appearance after a molt...

Maybe that IS Maggie?? Guess only more time could tell for sure!

Love, Hugs and Scritches

Shi


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## c.hert

Thats what I was thinking maybe its Maggie....c.hert


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## rfboyer

Siam Sam said:


> Odd, but there's another pigeon that has showed up who acts like Maggie but does not really look like Maggie. Looks like her a little but not exactly. Head and neck area are lighter, for example, and feathers not as kerfuffled as Maggie's usually are. Seems to know us and keeps begging hard for food. And Henry is okay with her being here, although they haven't gotten frisky. Surely Maggie could not have changed appearance?


My blue bar "young birds" got lighter after they molted... and new feathers can look less 'kerfuffled' than "experienced" ones.


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## Siam Sam

Several new gray pidgees have started stopping by, but we think we've determined Maggie is definitely one of them. She doesn't seem as kerfuffled as before but does seem to know us. And Henry is okay with her, the few times that he's here now at the same time. However, it's just that he doesn't chase her away while they're eating; there are no amorous activities at the moment. But we're pretty sure it's her.

Susie is proving pretty feisty. She'll fight the other pidgees, even the bigger ones. Even has nipped at Henry and Maggie, her presumed mother.

We're trying not to feed the other pidgees, not wanting to attract attention, but it's tough keeping it among a certain select few.


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## Siam Sam

It is definitely Maggie, and she and Henry have begun getting frisky again. Much kissing, but we've not seen the actual deed again yet.

But there's some strange new behavior on the part of Henry. Yesterday (Sunday), he took to sitting inside the flower box. Not just sitting, but keeping his head down and tail up, remaining motionless. Maggie was perched on the edge. It was almost like when Little Pidgee was getting ready to lay eggs. But Henry is male! This went on for quite a while, then he left. Did not seem ill at all. Even fought with some other pidgees trying to come here. And there is zero nest-building activity, none at all.

Then this morning, I knew Henry was out there, because I heard him cooing, like he does when he's calling Maggie. The curtain was closed, because the sun was still coming through. When I opened it to feed him, there he was back in the box, head down, tail up, Maggie perched on the edge! They both left the box to come and eat. What gives?  They're both gone now.

Susie still tends to follow Mom and Dad despite their rebuffs. Junior's been coming around more, still very timid.


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## Siam Sam

Tuesday morning now, and although Henry and Maggie have stopped by for breakfast, they showed no interest in the flower box today that I could see. Again, Henry is not acting the least bit ill.


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## Frank-NC

thanks for keeping us updated and sharing the pics also, lovely story on maggie and henry , keep us posted about them more please, thx


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## Siam Sam

Yesterday (Friday), a new Henry-looking young pidgee showed up. Definitely not Susie, but we thought at first it was Junior, who still comes around. But the throat markings were completely different. Still with a distinctive Dalmatian look, so this was a new Henry offspring. Henry and Maggie both attacked it! And viciously. Bounced the kid right out of here. Haven't seen it again. Must be theirs, but they told it in no uncertain terms to get out of Dodge.


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## Siam Sam

Yesterday (Sunday), we saw yet another Henry-looking young pidgee stop by, the fourth one now in the last two or three months, but this one _still had a lot of yellow baby fuzz sticking out of the top of its head_. Otherwise, all Dalmatian-looking. 

Stopped by when the parents were gone so was not chased away. Hasn't been back. Must be from the most recent batch.


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## Siam Sam

We think there are new eggs somewhere. Maggie rarely stops by now, and we think that means she's busy with that. But why she wouldn't stop by during Henry's shift on the eggs we don't know. She stopped by yesterday (Friday) for the first time in a while. Henry keeps coming by all the time. Before Maggie stopped coming by regulalry again, they were doing it regularly.

Most mornings, Susie and a normal gray pidgee will be waiting on the window frames, and when I stick my head out the door, they'll both come flying over to the rail. We think the gray one must be Susie's sibling despite being completely non-Henry-looking. Must just take after Maggie. There's no apparent romantic involvement whatsoever, but they're always together. And when they eat, they shove sideways against each other, like they're trying to push each other out of the way, but it's not a fight.

But most of Henry's children have that Dalmation look. There's no use his denying paternity. A new one just started coming by in the past week. _May_ be the one we saw before with baby fuzz on the head, but there's no fuzz now. Seems a bit awkward. And this is cute: The first time we saw her, she walked ever so cautiously up to the dish of water we keep out there, gave it a tentative peck and then FREAKED OUT. Flew straight up in a panic. She obviously expected that to be a solid surface, and when her beak penetrated the water, her "danger" alert must have gone off big time. We think that may have been her first encounter with water. She did return after a while and take a couple of sips. We've named her Karen, because she has a tubelike pattern on the back of her neck that makes her resemble the long-necked Kayan people of Burma. There are some in Thailand, in Mae Hong Son province bordering Burma, and they are part of the Karen group. Although it's actually pronounced Ka-REN (and the Thais say Ga-Riang), we're using the normal Western pronunciation of Karen. Pretty sure she's female, as she seems feminine.

And Henry has taken even more to jumping up on the little ledge the sliding glass door runs along on and pressing up against the window to get our attention for food. Smart guy! 

Will try to post new pics soon, maybe this weekend. Always seems to take forever for me to do that.


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## TerriB

You have a regular soap opera going on there...or maybe a sit-com? Either way, it seems like you are enjoying the interactions with the birds as much as they enjoy your support. Looking forward to the pics!


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## Cyreen

Epic!

Okay, I'm up-to-date. Henry seems to have his people nicely trained; it's amazing how quickly they set a precedent. As for sexing by appearance or behavior - good luck! Ollie still crows, bows, and does the angry dance and_ I know she's a girl_!


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## Siam Sam

Here are the promised new photos:

*Thursday, May 20*
Lazy Susie. Yes, she's eating while lying down. That's Dad on the right, of course.


*Sunday, May 23*
Susie and Henry enjoy separate servings. Henry often chases Susie away if she gets too close while eating, so we sometimes try to give separate portions. Susie's head is a blur because she's pecking away quickly.

This one is good, as it shows the little Eurasian tree sparrow that stops by several times a day. The pidgees always ignore it, and it must think it's one lucky bird to have found this treasure trove of food. Nervous little guy, always hopping around. I think the wife took this shot.


*Wednesday, June 23*
Jumping ahead a full month, we see daughter and Dad still eating. Whether Henry's here or not, Susie will wait for me most mornings over on the window frames, flying over as soon as I poke my head out the door. She's usually with a gray pidgee that I thought must be her sibling, but the wife has convinced me it looks too old to be her sibling. Just friends, I guess.


*Saturday, June 26*
Henry up on the little metal ledge that the sliding glass door runs along. That's Maggie on the right. Henry jumps up there every time he wants fed now, having learned this is a good way to get our attention. Smart little man! And you can't help but notice him, as his claws make a scratching sound on the metal, and whereas he does not tap on the glass on purpose -- at least, I don't _think_ he does -- when he turns his head, his beak inadvertently taps.


*Sunday, June 27*
A better view of Henry on the ledge. He's not shy about us coming up to the window, and again, he has learned this is how to order breakfast. Or lunch. Or his mid-day snack or dinner.

"Please, sir, may I have some more?"

And a right profile. There is _just_ enough room for him to turn, causing his beak to tap on the glass.


And again, you can see all of Henry's photos over the past 10 months on one page here.


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## Siam Sam

The new one is starting to show up regularly now. Not the one we named Karen; haven't seen her for two or three days. It's the other one I mentioned, still sporting the very last vestiges of baby fuzz. Yesterday (Sunday) she (seems feminine, thus "she") did what we've seen other young pidgees do when eating near their parents: Squealed like a squab while pecking at the food. Even though they are not asking for a feeding, it's like a habit that they squeal while eating, at least near the parents. Susie did the same thing. This new one followed Dad here again this morning and has been hanging around. I haven't heard any squealing today.

I have managed to take a few shots of this one and will post them soon. Don't know if the baby fuzz will show, it's so slight now.


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## Siam Sam

Word is spreading yet again, and we're starting to have another problem with too many pidgees coming around. A lot of new grays out there. But with Henry's active assistance, we've developed a workable system.

As you saw in the last batch of photos, Henry now knows to ask for food by hopping up onto that little metal ledge the sliding glass door runs along and staring inside at us. So when I see Henry first thing in the morning, I'll pour out a pile of birdseed for him. If he wants more, he'll hop up and ask. Really! If any of his family are around, such as Junior or Susie, they can eat too. Many of the grays are monitoring us and will then show up, and Henry usually spends a lot of time chasing them away. If Henry does not want any more, he won't jump up, and I don't pour any more out. He'll usually leave after eating a couple of piles, then we have to stop feeding the others, even Junior and Susie, at least for now.

(Junior is becoming like the lazy son who lounges around all day and won't go out and look for a job. He knows all he has to do is wait long enough, and we'll pour him some food, so he just hangs around all day long.)

I'm usually out and about in the afternoons, but when the wife comes home, Henry is out there waiting for her more often than not. As soon as he becomes aware of someone inside, he'll start cooing, then jump up onto the ledge. It's become obvious he's cooing for food and not for his mate. He'll be facing the glass, staring intently and cooing away, then he'll jump up. (It's too awkward for him to coo while on the ledge.)

This system of feeding Henry only when he asks (except his first serving of the morning) actually seems to be working. I find it amazing that a wild animal has learned how to place an order of food with us, but that's exactly what Henry's doing. Again, here he is up in the window asking for food. And here. Both of these are repeats from above.

Meanwhile, Karen has not come back after her first couple of appearances more than a week ago. The new one seems to like it around here though, but we've not named her yet, in case she disappears; still squeals like a baby when eating. Susie and especially Junior are becoming fixtures. We wonder where they all sleep at night. And Maggie only stops by once in a while now; we figure she's busy with new eggs somewhere.


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## Cyreen

Siam Sam said:


> I find it amazing that a wild animal has learned how to place an order of food with us, but that's exactly what Henry's doing.












Actually Sam, even more amazing is that Henry has trained two humans to feed him on command. Never underestimate an animal's intelligence, they will never fail to amaze you, if you're paying attention.

Considering they learn from observation, I'm curious to see how long before Henry's progeny learn the command.


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## malfunctional

That's brilliant. Well done Henry! And to think for the first year or so you never fed any of them.


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## mr squeaks

I agree with Cyreen!

AND, I understand *completely!*

I was "rehabbing" VALentino for 4 weeks on my balcony until he grew back the right wing flights he had broken off. When I released him, to join his feral buddies, did he go away??? Nooooo, he now roosts on one of my balcony support beams (4"x4") and comes around for a free handout from my balcony feeder. UNtil VAL came along, my feeder supported only Finches, Sparrow and Doves. I was feeding some feral pijies over my balcony, hence, VAL's "buddies!"

Well, if that's not enough, I now have JoJoe (see my thread, "Meet VAL and JoJoe"), a squeaker, who will also be released when he's a little older. Since I've _also_ had JoJoe for a time, I have a feeling that BOTH will be staying around for Ms. Softie (me!) to feed 'em the good stuff! *sigh*

Yeah, I can understand... 

Love and Hugs

Shi


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## Garye

> Thursday, May 20
> Lazy Susie. Yes, she's eating while lying down. That's Dad on the right, of course.


Why waste energy when you could be using it for food?


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## Siam Sam

Everything's settled into a regular pattern. Henry will sit and coo at us if he wants fed, and if we're not fast enough with the goodies, then he'll jump up into the window. Sometimes he'll bypass the cooing stage altogether and just jump up into the window right away. we always feed him then even if there are other pidgees around, because he's formally asking. But he often gets into fights with the others, and we'd prefer to put out food when it's only him around. Maggie disappears from time to time but always shows back up, so we're not too worried; must be busy with eggs during her absences. She's around regularly now. Junior keeps staring at the spot where Dad jumps up, as if he's trying to figure out what exactly Dad does there to get us to bring out food; a little dense, he can't quite understand the jumping-up bit.

Some days when I'm out and about, the wife will return home late in the afternoon to find Henry already standing staring into our place. Not up on the rail, but on the balcony and close to the window, staring inside expectantly. We hope on the days we're not home until after dark that he finally gives up and goes to look for food on his own. And the rains have returned with a vengeance; we've had several tropical downpours lately pushing the bugs up out of the ground. Have seen other pidgees hunting around on the mansion grounds next door.

I'll be in Laos for a few days this week or next. The wife may or may not go with me. Her availability depends on exactly when I go. It won't be a long absence like Vietnam in April, will be just a couple of days, but there go poor Henry's meals again.

Meanwhile, this morning (Sunday morning), a frail black-footed one showed up. We're wondering if it's old, as it's turning white on the face. Do pidgees start turning whilte like humans do with their hair? That's the impression this one gives anyway. Seems exhausted and tired. Just wants to rest. We're wondering if it's the former Blackfoot returned; he disappeared ages ago. This one keeps hiding behind the tree pots to keep from being hassled by Henry and the others, who all want to chase it away.


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## Polish pigeo

first of all sorry for my English assisted by a translator
I come from the Polish and I have a problem with the T2 JUNIOR RACING PIGEON TIMER replaced the batteries in it and I have a problem with the service code and instructions if anyone has instructions or service code, and can help me I was grateful I was looking for in Poland and no one has or wants the money for replacement once the battery in the codes is not with us in support of a group of farmers will help me if someone is on Polish forums continue to spread the codes so that all concerned are able to enjoy the hobby
thanks and greetings from Polish far-off wish flights


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## Polish pigeo

sorry to paste this message here but I do not know where these threads can be directed somewhere else, if it please link


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## Siam Sam

Not much new going on. We've settled into a routine of Henry asking for food, and we give it. But we try to feed him only when he's alone, or almost so. Too many other pidgees hanging around hoping for a handout, and Henry gets tired of fighting them all.

We've had a couple of hellacious storms in the past few days -- this is the rainy season -- and we've not seen Maggie since before the last one a couple of days ago. Hope she's okay! Her regular disappearance usually, we think, signals her need to pay extra attention to the nest, wherever that is. And yesterday morning we discovered a piece of egshell out on the balcony. Blown here by the storm? Or carried here stuck to a pidgee's foot? Hope whoever was inside the egg hatched normally and did not have the egg broken by the storm. Maybe a new little squab or two will show up in the next month? Junior and Susie from previous batches still hanging around; we do slip them some food, too, if no one's around.


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## Cyreen

It's amazing how these creatures just become part of our routine, yet colour how we look at the world. I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one who spends a lot of time looking up.


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## Siam Sam

Friday morning, and yesterday we saw an odd development: Henry being mercilessly bullied by a large gray male out on the balcony. What the ...? He was positively terrified and running for his life. He's usually Mr. Tough Guy. We chased the gray away.

It's the rainy season, and we've had some real downpours in recent days. Maggie showed up again yesterday, but then again this morning soaking wet. Wherever they keep their nest, it's probably not well protected. Gave her a good feed. Hope their squabs are okay if there are any; I still remember the eggshell pieces from last weekend.


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## mr squeaks

Fingers crossed!!

Hope all is well too!!

Sending Love, Hugs and Scritches

Shi and MR. Squeaks/Dom/Gimie/WoeBeGone/Rae Charles


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## Siam Sam

We now know it's not Maggie who has been showing up recently after all, and the pidgee may not even be female. "She" looked a little different, but we thought it was just because she was so wet. But over a few days, we started noticing a diferent pattern in the feather design. Finally Henry showed up at the same time ... and started fighting with her! Or him, as he started fighting back strongly. We had to break them up. So still no sign of the real Maggie.

Henry remains intimidated, too, by that new big gray. But he's not sick; he acts like Henry at all other times. I wonder if he fought with the gray at one point and lost.

A new little pidgee has shown up, too. Seems to be just out of the squab stage. No yellow baby fuzz but still squeals a bit, especially when pecked at a bit by Susie or Junior or Henry. Can't tell if Henry's the father. It actually resembles Big Pidgee of old a bit, at least on top. Underneath it seems a bit whitish.


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## Siam Sam

The new little one mentioned above is a quick learner. It's started hopping up onto the windows! Junior's done it only the one time, but this new one tried several times on the middle door, then finally found the little shelf Henry uses. Smart little guy! I think this one may belong to Henry and Maggie, but the wife's not so sure.

And an even newer young one has shown up this morning (Wednesday morning) that is _definitely_ Henry's. White with a pattern. I thought it was susie at first, but instead of a "mask" on the face, it's more like freckles. Very cute. And smaller than Susie, as they've both appeared together.

Henry and Maggie are populating the neighborhood with some fine-looking pidgees.


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## Cyreen

And how's that food supply? Better stock up.


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## mr squeaks

Love, Hugs and Scritches

Shi


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## Siam Sam

We can't decide if this new one belongs to Henry and Maggie or to the Pretty One and Scruffy, who have also had sex on our balcony. But it has decided it likes staying here, at least during the day. That other new one who definitely is Henry's appeared only the one time and never returned.

But now there's yet another new young one that seems definitely Henry's. Darkish body with a pattern, but the face is partly white, and strikingly so. Looks like it fell face forward into a can of paint. Has stopped by twice this weekend so far.

Another heavy downpour last night, and Maggie's been away for a long time now. There's a long row of townhouses by our complex, and walking past it a few days ago, the wife noticed some pidgee activity up underneath the roof, which has a little space. One was white, _possibly_ Henry. Could be where his nest is?


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## Siam Sam

And two other pidgees that look like they could have Henry's DNA stopped by yesterday (Sunday). All gray except for two white-lined wings on one of them and one white-lined wing on the other. We're thinking not all of these can be Henry's, unless he's got someone on the side besides Maggie. Have not seen them again, nor the one from a few days ago that was definitely Henry's, but the new one with the white underbelly is still hopping up into the window, and this new White Face seems to like it here now as well. (We're wondering if these last two could be siblings, since most of their markings are very similar.)


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## Siam Sam

Sadly, Henry is stopping by less and less these days. Partly probably due to too many other pigeons now, but I'm sure it's also because we're putting out less food now. We have no choice, but I swear he seems to understand. Yesterday (Wednesday), he hopped up into the window to ask for food, but there was an army of pigeons behind him! Maybe a dozen. He'd not be able to eat for all of the fighting, so I pointed at the other pigeons and closed the curtain. Instead of keep jumping into the window like he often does, he just seemed to accept it and left. Poor little guy, his little bistro has become too popular.  I try to keep a good eye out and feed him if there are not too many others around.

And that one aggressive gray we're having more problems with. The one that intimidates Henry. He really likes to play the Big Boss, but he knows we don't like it. When we catch the gray doing it, we'll point at him and go "No!" I swear he seems to know we mean him wi'll usually leave after that.

Otherwise, the new one that's white on the belly whose parentage we're not sure of has decided he likes it here, and we've named him Joey. This is the other one who has learned the trick of jumping up into the window. But Joey has taken it one step further: He'll be standing there looking in, then suddenly fly straight up about 6 feet, bump into the glass door and drop back down! He's done this several times. That's his way of asking for food, knocking on the door! We'll slip him some then IF there aren't too many others around.

The newest one, White Face, likes hanging around too, especially likes perching on the edge of the flower box. Suzie and Junior hang out for much of the day, too. We'll feed them, too, if outsiders are not around.


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## mr squeaks

I sympathize!

It's hard to feed just a few...once the word gets out!!

Any way to let just those special few come just inside the door to eat?

Love and Hugs

Shi and MR. Squeaks/Dom/Gimie/WoeBeGone/Rae Charles


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## Siam Sam

No, they won't come near us. The wife us not keen on letting any inside the door anyway. 

Meanwhile, as mentioned, the two-tone with the white underbelly has been dubbed Joey. Likes hanging around but has developed a slight limp in his right leg. Not broken; still walks and even scratches his head vigorously with it, but landings seem to bother him, and he definitely favors his left leg. We let him hang out here to rest.

The one known as White Face has also taken a cotton to our balcony, and we have dubbed him Moe, after the character of Fat Moe in Sergio Leone's _Once Upon a Time in America_, which we just watched on Saturday night. The wife decided she liked the name of Moe.  Our Moe is still young, still gives little squeaks and squeals but has lost all of his baby fuzz. We think Joey and Moe may be siblings, but we can't agree on who the parents are -- I think it may be Henry and Maggie, the wife thinks the Pretty One and Scruffy, based on the patterns on their backs. Moe's markings resemble those on Big Pidgee a bit. Will have to get those photos up.

Henry is still coming around but is visibly annoyed at all these other pigeons hoping for some food. He came by once the other day, I put some food out, and before he could even get to it, about nine or so others swooped in. There were so many that Henry just looked at them from the top balcony rail, then dropped down and jumped up into the window to ask for some for himself. That happened again this morning, too.

But yesterday (Monday), a bizarre incident occurred. I had removed the last load of laundry from our dryer about 9am and had cleaned out the dryer lint. I was going to go throw the bag with the lint out in the trash, when I see Henry on the balcony peering in, wanting some breakfast, so I waved hello signaled to him that I'd be right back.

The trash cans are set inside the stairway, the door to which is just outside our front door. I always run out there to throw trash away even if I'm minimally dressed. I was wearing my usual house wear, what's called a _phakhima_. A _phakhima_ is a long piece of checkered cloth that men wear wrapped around their waste like a towel. Very commonly worn around the house and even, in the villages, outside the house in the neighborhood. In Bangkok, it's not really good to wear it outside our unit in what is a moderately upscale condominium, but again I can just run out, dump the trash then back in, maybe five seconds.

Unfortunately, this time I left the laundry-room door open. Our laundry room is open to a tall shaft that runs the entire 36-story height of our building. A rail grid keeps us from falling into it. But leaving that door open created a draft that slammed the front door shut behind me as soon as I went out to drop the trash. And the door locked. 

So there I was wearing my _phakhima_, essentially a towel, locked out, the wife away and Henry waiting for breakfast. I gritted my teeth and went down the stairs three floors to the building office on the third floor. They called the locksmith, who was there in only 10 minutes. But while I was sitting in the office, which is located on the same side of the building as our unit, I actually saw Henry flying away, swooping down to the temple parking lot below. Poor little guy waited as long as he could before deciding I wasn't coming back and giving up.  Did not come back that morning or early afternoon, and we were both away later in the afternoon. But I did get to feed him some this morning.


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## mr squeaks

Yikes!! What an adventure!! 

Guess, next time, to be on the safe side, you will prop the door open???

'Course, to be fair, I have to admit that I _was_ grinning while reading your post!! 

Glad Henry is baaack! 

Love, Hugs and Scritches

Shi and the gang


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## Siam Sam

I'm trying to get in the habit now of making sure the door handle is unlocked any time I go to throw out trash, no matter what. 

Meanwhile, the good news is Maggie has returned after a lengthier-than-usual absence. We're sure it's her this time and not Fake Maggie like before, because even Henry recognizes her as such instead of chasing her away like he did the other one. They were even kissing the other day. 

The bad news is Henry remains frustrated by the other pidgees muscling in on his territory. We feed him when we can if there's not too many others around, but it seems most of the time someone else will show up at some point while he's eating, causing him to concentrate on chasing them away or fighting.

New photos! There have been several new ones that resemble Henry but then disappear after only one appearance or two. Joey and Moe, who probably, or at least possibly, are not Henry's, have decided to hang around.

This one from July 3 shows one who may be Henry's but then disappeared. (Pardon the condition of the balcony; this was the day before a big cleaning.)

This one is of one of the generic pigeons that come around, but it's a sleepy little guy, on July 19. That's frost from the air-conditioner on the glass door.

Jumping ahead to August 18, we meet Joey, here and here. Looking a little sleepy himself in that second one. Note the cute white belly. Then on the same day, this guy stopped by, obviously Henry's. Note the end of his wing is rather brown. Never saw him again, though.

Still on that same day, we see Joey looking comfy on a corner of the flower box here and here. We think he was not long out of the nest, no matter who his parents were. Then five days later, on August 23, Joey's out practicing his ballet. That leg bothers him some now, though.

And still on August 23, we see little Moe, originally dubbed White Face. A better shot is here. Note the Big Pidgee pattern and white shoulders, another feature that Big Pidgee used to have.

And on August 26, we see the newest one to start hanging around. Obviously one of Henry's. Snoozing in this one, too, with I believe it's Joey popping up in the door.

No new ones of Henry or Maggie this time. But he's still around, and lately so has she been. Again, there have been at least a couple of others who could belong to Henry popping in, then disappearing before we can take their photo. Can't really all belong to Henry though, unless he has something going on on the side. Hmmm, well this IS Thailand.


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## leenco12

rattyfied said:


> thanks for sharing, i'm so glad you've posted an update


Henry looks a lot like my Shelley. I wonder why they call them blue grizzles? They are rare.


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## Siam Sam

Thanks to Henry's procreative prowess, they're becoming less rare in our neighborhood. 

Henry still hops up onto the little sliding-door edge and presses up against the glass to ask for food. Did it just a little while ago, too. I'm wondering if he's tried this with other units in this building, as the balcony doors are all the same. The unit residents would have to be awfully surprised.


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## Siam Sam

Henry and Maggie may not nest here, but they sure like to use our balcony as their own little short-time motel. They stopped by to "do the deed" twice yesterday afternoon (Wednesday afternoon). We especially like the way Maggie struts around once in a little circle afterward with her wings one-quarter extended.  I really need to try to get a video of this, but we don't have a video camera.

Henry is so smart. Wanted feeding this morning. I put a little out despite there being a few other pidgees around. Then more showed up, so Henry can't get to the food and jumps up in the window to ask for more. I pointed at the others and said no, then closed the curtains. He needs to cut into the crowd. But whenever I do this, he seems to understand perfectly and always gets back down. Some time later, I opened the curtains again to see him and one stranger pidgee still out there. He looked at me hopefully, and I gave him some more. He managed to have a good feed without all of those others butting in.


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## mr squeaks

Such a soap opera you have!

So glad to hear Henry and Maggie are together!

You sure have some beauties showing up!

I certainly understand the term "more!" Funny how the word gets out to other pigeons when food is involved!

I have a small flock I feed over my balcony in the mornings. I also have a feeder on my balcony that attracted finches, sparrows and doves. _Then,_ I rehabbed VALentino and JoJoe and released them. Now, they and their buddies make use of the balcony feeder! *sigh* 

_And_, being the softie I am, I now have a few expecting an afternoon snack from the feeder! They sit lined up on a tree limb just waiting for me to appear!  

Love and Hugs

Shi


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## Siam Sam

Three never-before-seen pidgees appeared yesterday (Monday), two very young ones and an older male, BIG, and very beautiful. Rather silvery. Didn't seem very afraid of me either.

Of the two young ones, one looked like a cross between Joey and Moe. Very small and seemed to be curious about everything. So small -- the head was so tiny -- that I looked closely for signs of yellow baby fuzz but dould detect none. I now tend to think the wife is correct about Joey and Moe belonging to the Pretty One and Scruffy, and this Joey/Moe hybrid may be theirs, too. The other one was a definite Henry offspring, very white, with a few black streaks on its back and black polka dots all around its head. Unfortunately, I had my hands full at the time and was unable to get a picture of any of them.

Little Susie has apparently left. I don't think we've seen her for two whole weeks now. Occasionally, when we walk down and out to the street, we'll see a large flock of pigeons flying continuously in a large circle, over and over, like they're racing or playing, maybe 20 of them, and we think we've spotted Susie among them in the past. So she's made friends. Probably has found a mate; by our reckoning, she's probably about six months old now, as she first showed up here right after we returned from Vietnam.

But the new regular white one -- not the one that appeared yesterday, but rather the new regular, who appears in that last batch of photos a few posts back (this pidgee), has decided she likes it here. We've held off naming her, in case she doesn't stick around, just calling her Sweetie instead. Now that she's decided to be a regular, the name Sweetie has stuck. We think she's a girl, very feminine-looking, although one time she pulled some sort of aggressive masculine thing, so maybe she's a ladyboy? This IS Thailand. 

I actually touched Joey or Moe yesterday, not sure which one. They both look similar from the back, and this one had his back to me eating. Was so involved in eating that he did not notice me open the door. I bent down and touched him, and he freaked and flew away quickly. Very soft. But Joey's leg is noticeably better. Still favors the left a bit, but the right leg has improved, whatever was bothering it.

And this morning, for the first time, Maggie jumped up into the window. I was busy changing their water, and she must have figured I was being slow with the food, as when I returned with the water, she was up in the window staring in. Maggie's showing up full-time again with Henry, but we're having to cut back some on food again, because, as usual, there are too many coming around. Henry now understands, or seems to, what it means when I close the windows. He and Maggie does get some food though.


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## Siam Sam

Have not seen the three from Monday morning again, and it's Wednesday here now.

I don't think I've mentioned Big Eyes. A tiny young one that appeared a couple of weeks ago that has, you guessed it, rather large eyes. Everything else about him is small, seems to be a young adult. We think he's male, as he's like a little attack pigeon. He's very aggressive, even against pidgees that are much larger than he is, and we're trying not to encourage him to hang around. However, he has caught on to the jumping-up-in-the-window bit and does it endlessly. But it's not working for him, hehehe.


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## mr squeaks

Awwww, Big Eyes sounds very smart, Siam Sam!

Maybe just a snack??? 

Love and Hugs

Shi


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## Siam Sam

Big eyes does cut in on Henry's action some, but we don't want to encourage him too much. although small and young, he can be very aggressive.

Update. We've been forced into a drastic cutback on feeding, but Henry still gets some when possible. The problem now seems to be some pidgees have figured out Henry's the key to the food and so follow him everywhere. He has his own cult! We still feed him if there are not _too_ many other outside pidgees around, but sometimes he'll jump up into the window with virtually an army behind him, and we just have to point to the others, shake our heads no and close the curtains. He actually seems to understand; at least, he knows this means no, as he doesn't keep jumping up like before.

Susie is definitely gone. Joey has left, also. Moe and Zoe are still here ... we think, as there are several new young ones that resemble them. It's getting difficult to tell which ones are Moe and Zoe and which the others. One I call Spotty, as he carries a white Gorbachev-style blotch on top of his head. And some new grays. All of these are young punks who tend to fight among themselves, visibly annoying Henry.

And a new white one that is obviously Henry's just appeared in the last few days. Beautiful, just stunning, white with very few black markings, but a similar, albeit more faded, pattern on the very top of the head as Henry has. Not the one we called Sweetie, who has also not been seen for days. This one looks so elegant, we thought it must be a female, but this morning (Wednesday morning), this one puffed out its neck and made some very male-like aggressive moves against others; must be a Thai ladyboy! 

Maggie has disappeared again also, so we figure she must be tending to some eggs again. Don't know why she does not come here much in her off hours if that's true.

Even when we're not putting out food, we always have fresh water available, and they appreciate that. Some pidgees have taken to lounging down in our tree pots and snoozing for long stretches. We're very popular with them.

Will try to post new photos soon.


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## mr squeaks

*sigh*

Oh yes, I know _exactly_ what you are talking about!!

From a few - grow MANY!! If Pijies don't have telepathy, they have something VERY close to it! The WORD spreads...FOOD, here...come and get it!

I know the feeling well and the only solution is to a) cut waaay back or b) stop. Too bad "stop" is not an option with me...

Sending ALL our BEST

Shi and the gang (in and out!)


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## Siam Sam

There's been a disturbing development. Henry's been gone a full week now. 

It's Thursday morning here, and the last time we saw him was last Thursday. I fed him around noon. I thought he seemed a bit skittish at the time. The wife fed him in the late afternoon. And those are the last times we've seen him. We were away last weekend, for just under 48 hours from Saturday noontime until late Monday morning. But even when we spent so much time in Vietnam, Henry still hung around.

Maggie did reappear on Monday, and I was able to give her a good feed with no other pidgees around. But she's not been back since, and that was her only appearance in a couple of weeks or so. In fact, there seems to be a noticeable drop in the number of pigeons coming around. It's still the height of the rainy season, and lots of bugs being pushed out of the ground and lush greenery, so they're not lacking any hunting opportunities. The Pretty One and Scruffy still hang around too, always together as usual.

I hope Henry's okay. He's hung out here for 14 months, his whole adult life, we think. It's good they're free to fly around and such, but then you start worrying about what's happened when they disappear.

Susie's still gone. Junior reappeared yesterday for the first time in days. Ladyboy and a few others like to lounge around in the mornings, then disappear in the afternoon. I went ahead and fed Ladyboy and Big Eyes today. Another pidgee showed up, then a couple more, but not the large number as before. Ladyboy and Big Eyes got into a fight that I had to break up. He's aptly named, Ladyboy, because although male, he looks so elegant and feminine.


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## mr squeaks

I SO hope Henry is OK!!

Unfortunately, as "ferals" they live an uncertain life. Sure can take its toll on we humans who watch out for them!

Sending *positive return thoughts*, Siam Sam...with Love and Hugs

Please keep us updated!

Shi and MR. Squeaks/Dom/Gimie/WoeBeGone/Rae Charles


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## Siam Sam

Good news! Henry showed up! 

It was yesterday afternoon (Friday afternoon), and I was just shutting the place to head out. Just as I was closing the curtain, Henry flew down from somewhere and landed on the top rail. I thought it was Junior at first, who comes around now about noontime and had been here earlier. But no, it was Henry. I was sort of in a hurry, but I stopped everything and gave him some food. Immediately, he got into a fight with another pigeon, which I broke up quickly before leaving. Don't know what happened after that, he was on his own. The wife did not see him when she came home later.

So after eight days, Henry showed back up. Odd. Maybe he doesn't think of this as his place anymore, having grown tired of all these other pidgees that are trying to muscle in? Still no further sign of Maggie since Monday. It could have been my imagination, but Henry seemed thinner. I'm just glad someone didn't catch him to eat; around here, you never know.

Ladyboy has definitely become a regular now. I'm sure he's one of Henry's. Will post photos soon. And a new one has appeared, looks like marble -- half white (Henry?) and half dark in a marbled pattern.


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## mr squeaks

GREAT News about Henry!!

Sure hope he is OK...I bet he will regain any lost weight if he keeps returning to your "table!

Looking forward to the pictures!!

Sending Flyin' Safe with Love and Hugs 

Shi and the gang


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## Siam Sam

Did not see Henry yesterday (Saturday), but he reappeared this morning, only briefly, but at least we know he's okay. Fed him ... and nine other pidgees who showed up immediately. Then he left. I think he's just tired of the hassle.

Now Ladyboy, Big Eyes and Max hang out here all morning long each day. Ladyboy is defintely Henry's; Max, who first showed up just a few days ago and has a marbled design, may be. For some reason, he looks like a Max, so thus his name. Max has fallen in love with the flower box and generally refuses to leave it, sitting either inside it or, like he is right now while staring at me, perched on the edge. We'll slip those a little food if no others are around.

I even had to chase away the Evil Gray, who decided to try and fight Max for occupancy of the box. Max put up a valiant fight until reinforcements (me) arrived.

Photos in the not-too-distant future.


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## Siam Sam

Henry is now coming around more regularly again, often with Maggie. Not sure what that eight-day absence was all about.

But we're worried about Junior. On Wednesday, he seemed sick. He was perfectly fine even the day before, but on that day he was listless, sort of drooping and had a hard time keeping his eyes open. Was breathing heavily. And seemed to have no interest in food, which is very unusual for him. When I opened the balcony door, he flew over to the window frames, where he continued acting sick. That's the last we've seen him, and it's Friday here now.

Poor little guy, maybe only eight months old by our reckoning. No other pidgees are showing any signs of illness at all, and he does not look like he was attacked; with his white color, I'd think that would be obvious. Maybe he ate something poisonous?


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## Siam Sam

It's been almost three weeks now since we last saw Junior, that day he was visibly ill. Whatever happened to him came no sudenly. Poor little guy.

Something may have happened to Scruffy, too. One of the two we call the Pretty One has Scruffy for a mate, and they sometimes even mate on the balcony. Unlike Henry and Maggie, who are only seen together some of the time, this Pretty One and scruffy were almost always together. Almost always. But we've not seen Scruffy for a week or so, and the Pretty One hangs out on the balcony all day long, staring out like he's looking for her. Maybe he's waiting for her to show up? Sad. We try not to feed this one, as he's very mean to Henry and Maggie both and others. Seems a little heart-broken now. But not ill.

Otherwise, business as usual. Henry and Maggie get fed mostly in the later afternoon if one of us are here, as too many others hang around in the morning, maybe 5-7 or even more. Like a little community center. We always leave water out. And there's been a noticeable change in the seasons since last Friday. The rains have ended suddenly, and we've entered the so-called cool season. There are some relatively cool breezes in the mornings, and the pidgees all fluff their feathers out against them. May have even seen one new one, another Moe and Max marble-patterned one, possibly belonging to Henry and Maggie.

Will try to get those photos up soon.


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## mr squeaks

So sorry to hear about Junior! Feral life can be rough at times!

Nice to hear that others seem to be doing well!

We will look forward to your pictures!!

Sending All Our Best to the "flock" from

Shi/MR. Squeaks/Dom/Gimie/WoeBegone/Rae Charles


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## Siam Sam

We're getting a little concerned. We figure Junior must be dead, as it's been a full four weeks now since we saw him acting ill. Then Scruffy disappeared, leaving The Pretty One to hang out here mourning and seeming to wait for her to reappear. A few days ago little Moe seemed a little sluggish, not much, not ill like Junior, but noticeable. Have not seen him since, and it's been almost a week.

We're wondering if maybe little Susie didn't just fly off after all. Maybe she took ill and died. Whatever hit Junior came on suddenly, and we never did see Scruffy ill at all.

Meanwhile, Ladyboy and Big Eyes have decided they like our balcony and hanging out here, but there's a big gray male we call Evil Gray, because he is an insufferable bully. Even chases Henry away. If we try to feed Henry, we have to watch and keep Evil Gray back. and he knows we don't like him. If he starts chasing another bird, we'll point to him threateningly, and he'll back off, but Henry and Maggie seem to sense we're on their side, helping them out.

A new young one has appeared that we're pretty sure is Henry's. Mostly white. Some black speckles and even brown speckles, but oddly there's an orange gash across the right wing. I thought it was bleeding the first time I saw it! But no, it's just the feather color. We've named it Som, which is Thai for "orange." Cute little guy. Stares all around in wonder like the new adults always do.


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## Siam Sam

Not much on the pigeon front over here. Very little feeding now, as even when Henry is here, he gets overwhelmed by all the others most of the time. We manage to feed him when not too many are around; rare now when he can be here alone or just with Maggie, as the others seem to have learned he's the key to the food. We leave out water, and a few use the place as a daytime community center. One young one really likes sleeping in the flower box in the mornings. One or two take baths in the water dish. Big Eyes will chase any pigeon out of "his spot" in the tree pot we call the "living room" regardless of whether he himself wants to use it. But no one wants to stay here over night now.

Ladyboy was here alone yesterday, so I did feed him a little. After a while, Big Eyes showed up, so I relented and fed him a little, too. But the cutting back does seem to be thinning out the pigeon flock to a more manageable level most of the time.

The one named Som has left, but we don't suspect anything untoward. That one was only here briefly. I promise to do photos sometime in the near future.


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## spirit wings

all I can say in shi's words is:
Sending All Our Best to the "flock" from

Shi/MR. Squeaks/Dom/Gimie/WoeBegone/Rae Charles 


Im very sad now....


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## Siam Sam

Not much new here. Our balcony has become a pigeon community center, a bit reminiscent of the dog cafe in the _Pooch Cafe_ comic strip. We'll feed Henry and a select couple of others, such as his son Ladyboy, if not too many are around. If there are, we'll close the curtains, and Henry knows that means no food, and he'll go away. But if he's really hungry, he'll jump in the window anyway -- we can hear him and see his little shadow -- so we'll try to put out a little.

Maggie has not been around for about two weeks, but she's disappeared for weeks on end before, and we're hoping it's just another case of that. I'm afraid Junior, Moe and Scruffy have probably all kicked the bucket somewhere. Everyone else appears healthy. And there are a few new ones around, including a dark one with glowing orange eyes. A small new gray who loves to soak in the water dish. One we call Brownie, due to a brown streak across an otherwise-normal gray body, has been having sex with a large gray in the designated sex area. How is it they all pick about the same spot on the floor?


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## Siam Sam

The long-promised photos. Just a few. I hadn't realized I'd been saving them on my camera for three months now! Some pidgees have come and gone in the interim.

Two pidgees. I believe that's Moe on the left and Joey asleep on the right. Both gone now.

Henry and Junior eating. That's on September 21. Junior seemed sick 22 days later and disappeared suddenly. RIP, Junior. 

Ladyboy in the Living Room. This is on September 26, exactly two weeks after he first appeared. An obvious Henry offspring. Very smooth and elegant, we initially thought he was female and called him Sweetie. But he soon started exhibiting male behavior -- puffing out his neck and doing the Angry Dance at other pidgees. But very feminine-looking. So he's been Ladyboy ever since. 

Ladyboy on October 5.

Max on October 8. Beautifully marbled. He disappeared shortly after Junior did, as well as seeming a little ill himself, although much less so than Junior.

Ladyboy trying out the flower box.

Som on November 4. The word _som_ is Thai for "orange," and you can see a small orange streak mid-wing. (No, that's not the dirty window.) She stayed around only a couple of days or so. We don't suspect anything untoward happened to her.

The elegant Ladyboy takes a meal, November 19.

And that's all the photos for now. Meanwhile, Henry comes to eat every day. He had something like an eight-day absence two months ago, and we feared the worst. but then he started showing up every day again. Maggie has been gone three weeks now, but she's disappeared before. This is about as long as she's been gone in the past, so we hope she shows back up soon. Ladyboy is a regular fixture, too. As is Big Eyes, a small gray male. One of the two Pretty Ones is still mourning the loss of his mate Scruffy but acts mean towards the others. Worse, one we call the Dark One is a complete and total bully, and we have to chase him away. In fact, to allow Henry eat in peace, we often have to stand guard while he eats, chasing away the Dark One, Evil Gray and that one Pretty One, because they'll try to bully Henry. And Henry seems to know we're helping him. While the others take flight, he stays. Still won't let us touch him, though.


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## Siam Sam

There's been a startling development. Ladyboy, whom we determined to be male following his angry dances and neck puffing, decidedly male characteristics, has started having sex with The Pretty One, the widower who lost his beloved Scruffy!  Ladyboy first showed up exactly three months ago this past Sunday, and we figure he/she is between four and five months old. Must just now becoming sexually active. But Ladyboy seems to be the one instigating the relationship, preening Pretty One's head and crouching down low as if to say: "Come and get it, big boy!" The wife was startled yesterday to see them kissing and then doing the deed -- in the designated sex area, of course. They must like it there because it's out in the open and no pots or water dishes nearby to get in the way. And I've noticed Ladyboy is staying close to Scruffy today (Tuesday) too. Could Ladyboy be a lady after all? Or is he really a ladyboy in true Thai style, and he's fooled The Pretty One?


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## Siam Sam

Woo Hoo! And Maggie's back. After four weeks. Just found her out there kissing Henry.


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## Garye

My Maggie acts masculine - the puffing of the neck feathers, the spreading of the tail - but she most certainly is a female. She lays 2 eggs every month.


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## Siam Sam

Ladyboy sure fooled us into thinking she's a male. In Thailand, the fooling usually goes in the other direction when it comes to ladyboys. 

Wednesday morning, and Henry and Maggie are both out there eating right now. Henry's always more forceful about keeping other pidgies away too when he's with Maggie. When he's alone, he's sometimes a bit timid.

Maggie keeps disappearing for three or four weeks at a time. My theory is maybe she just stays on the nest full time once she lays eggs? Then when the squabs are grown, she leaves? But she'd have to eat sometime. Dunno.


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## Siam Sam

Whatever the answer, they're inseparable again. Keep stopping by for food together and to "do the deed" in the designated sex area. And Maggie eats A LOT. 

It's official too that Ladyboy and The Pretty One are an item. They seem inseparable themselves now. Sadly, that means Ladyboy is now off following her new hubby around most of the time instead of hanging out here. Fed them a couple of times this morning, though. I guess The Pretty One has gotten over Scruffy.


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## Siam Sam

Maggie has disappeared again, since late last week. We figure that means new eggs in their nest, wherever that is. And Henry is pigging out a lot more. There's been a suggestion by someone who has seen similar behavior that Henry may be feeding Maggie while she's on the nest.

That would explain Henry's increased appetite. He's really demanding more food now. Usually if we close the curtains while he's out there, because there are too many other pigeons around and we don't want to feed everyone, he'll take the hint. These past few days, though, he's been standing out there, staring at the closed curtains and cooing for food. Sounds like a mating call, but he's clearly asking for food (he's done this before). And he'll jump up on the little ledge the sliding door runs on like he normally does when the curtain is open, only now he'll do it while the curtains are closed, and stay on there. We can see his little silhouette through the curtain. Once the other pigeons leave, then we'll feed him. Hungry little guy these days. I really think he must be feeding Maggie. I guess we'll see her again in three or four weeks.


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## Siam Sam

And no sooner had I written my previous post than Maggie appeared briefly. But she's definitely cut back. And there's a new one small one that looks suspiciously like Maggie. Just appeared today. Hmmm.


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## Siam Sam

That one appearance by Maggie was the last we've seen of her. She must be on the nest with eggs again. And now we suspect that is indeed correct about Henry feeding her. He comes by in the mornings, eats A LOT, flies off, then returns, hops up onto the window ledge again and asks for more. He'll do this two or three times in the morning, then sometimes back in the afternoon.

But now there's a little Pigeon Mafia of bullies who try to attack Henry while he's eating. So now what we often end up doing is standing guard near Henry so he can eat. We have a small spray bottle with which to shoot a stream of water at the attacking bullies to scare them off and let Henry eat in peace. This is all becoming a bit surreal: A wild animal regularly comes by and formally asks for food, then eats it as we stand guard over him. And he won't even let us touch him!


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## Siam Sam

Maggie showed up last week, pretty much on schedule, but seemed a bit ill. Listless, didn't want to eat. Uh-oh! 

Have not seen her for four days now, but Henry remains healthy and active. We've been advised to find some Flagyl (metronidazole) to mix in with the pidgees' drinking water after calculating a proper dose, and we're seeing what we can find.


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## Siam Sam

So far, all we've found is Flagyl in pill form, which we're told will make the water too bitter for the pidgees to drink. Still looking for liquid form, which we're told is available here but can't seem to track down. Afraid it may be too late for Maggie, as she's not been seen again.

But last Wednesday, a squab we believe must belong to Henry and Maggie showed up. A white underbelly, and on the wings and top is a marbled black-and-white pattern. Seems young and very awkward. Flew like a bat! Sort of veering around trying to get the hang of it. But doing it better now. Named him Phil, since he first appeared on Groundhog Day.

Then what must be the second squab showed up three days later, sleek and pretty, white with some black trim. That one we've spotted a couple of times, but Phil is really starting to hang out here. Gets chased by Dad and squeals when that happens, but the other pidgess seem okay with him. Dad doesn't seem to want his kids following him. 

Got some photos of Phil. All of these were taken yesterday (Sunday):

Phil and friend. That's him on the left. Unfortunately, the gray is not Maggie, who remains missing.

Frontal view. This one really shows he has Henry's belly.

Phil takes a drink. Funny how a lot of pidgees will climb onto the edge of the water dish like this, while others, like Henry, just drink while standing on the floor.

Bird's-eye view. This one really shows his intricate pattern. Reminds us a little of Max when he was still around.

Phil contemplates the world. He looks like a turkey in this one. He does have rather an odd-shaped head.

Three-quarters view. This one shows up his pattern some more.

All the other pigeons seem okay with Phil except for Henry. Henry will chase him away. We think Dad doesn't want his children following him over here. He chases Ladyboy the same way, but she's still become a regular over here. Phil may become one too, as he's been looking around and familiarizing himself with the place. Nibbles the plants a little. Has learned there's always water here.

We've seen a couple other new ones this week. They all make their way here for some reason.


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## Siam Sam

Well, it's looking like Phil may actually be a Philipa! There's an aggressive gray male, possibly the one in the first two photos, that likes to chase other pidgees away when Henry's not here, but he lets Phil hang around. And then yesterday I surprised them in the act of preening each other.  Hmmm. By our reckong, Phil must be less than two monts old. Is that old enough to start feeling frisky?

It's almost certain Ladyboy has eggs somewhere. She and her mate, the smaller Pretty One, keep very separate schedules for being over here and at the same times of day.


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## Siam Sam

And now the one we assume is the second squab, Phil's sibling, has started hanging around for the first time today (Friday). Definitely the younger of the two. Very skittish. Not helped by all the other pidgees, including Dad, chasing it away. Looks very young and innocent and still has large "puppy" feet. Has that look of wonder at the world that the young ones always have.

The skittishness is making it difficult to take a photo. When I try to stop anyone from chasing it, it thinks I'm chasing it too, so that doesn't help either. So when I try to creep around with a camera, it also thinks I'm after it. I've taken one or two shots, but they're not good. This one is mostly white with a very light gray head -- the entire head is sort of covered with Henry's pattern on the top of his head -- and very subtle black and even brown streaks in the body that aren't showing up on the shots I took. They're very light. Another elegant-looking pidgee. Henry sires good-looking children. I'll try to take some better photos and post what I have soon.


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## Siam Sam

Well, there's really been a lot of activity these last couple of weeks. That second squab is hanging around, and we've named her Faye. Presumed sibling Phil and her mate have stopped hanging around as much. But this past Monday was bath day for some reason. Phil took a bath while her mate preened her all over, then both snoozed, Phil in the water dish, the mate -- called Dot, due to a single dot on either wing above the stripe -- lounged down and snoozed next to her outside the dish. Then he took a bath later while Phil dried off in the sun. Then a Sammy design took a bath later that day. Monday was particularly hot, but no other baths before or after that day that we can tell. Except -- Phil and Dot just now took another bath while I'm typing this.

LOTS of new young pidgees arriving, with at least one still having some of its yellow fuzz. Just this morning (Friday morning, a young one that was BLACK black came by for the first time. With HUGE eyes. Looked almost like a cross with a mynah bird. The regular Dark One, which is one of the usual bullies, attacked it viciously, and I had to break it up. But this new one wandered around out there all morning

There are three outright bullies -- the Dark One, the big Pretty One (as opposed to the small Pretty One, which is Ladyboy's mate and who is a semi-bully) and White Wing. They will immediately attack any other pigeon just out of general principle, and as soon as we see one of these three, we spray water to get it out of here. But the big Pretty One is a tough guy. He knows now that the water's not going to hurt him, and I swear he actively challenges me. I'm not imagining this. He doesn't like getting squirted at close quarters but at any distance he just sort of takes a shower with it and glares at me. His mate is one of the Sammy designs, and they'll fly in, have sex in the designated sex area, then fly off, like they're taunting us. One day, they actually had sex while balanced on the top rail of the balcony! And not while positioned along the rail, but rather perpendicular to it. It was an amazing balancing act. Then they flew off. But we may have to get a regular water gun if our piddly little spray water is not going to work well. Those three still intimidate Henry, who will fight back if it's any others but not these.

And it looks like Henry has a new mate. Just this week, a new young one started showing up with him. We've not seen any displays of affection between them, but they're always together now, and she eats with him. Tiny! So very small, even smaller than Ladyboy. We've named her Pim, a common Thai girl's name. But the thing is she looks an awful lot like Henry. Definitely some Blue Grizzle mixed in. But that would be at least three belonging to Henry recently, and that can't be possible, unless we're wrong about Phil. But we suspect Pim may belong to the bully the big Pretty One, because we noticed one day while they were both here that he wouldn't attack her like he does all the others. That one has green as a predominant color, and Pim has a big splash of green on the throat and a smaller one on the back of the neck; otherwise looks a lot like Henry. But so small! I saw them flying together off in the distance yesterday, she trailing right behind him, and Henry's twice her size.

Ladyboy now hangs out here most of the day, hoping for food. Almost everyone can chase her though, so we can't give her any if we're too busy to guard her unless no one else is around. She just stands out there and stares in at us, just like her mother the presumedly late Maggie. She knows that sooner or later, we'll give her something. She and her mate have been showing up together more lately, so we guess any eggs of hers have hatched. We expect to see their squabs in the next two or three weeks.

Have some photos. Will have to try to sort those out.


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## Siam Sam

Well, we think we've determined that Pim is not Henry's mate after all, but rather his daughter, and she's sticking like glue to Daddy. Apart from the couple of splashes of green, which seem to result from a cluster of dark spots, and more of a checkerboard pattern on the wings, she looks just like him. There's been no romantic affection, and indeed Henry seems to be getting a little tired of her following him around all day every day, as he's started to peck and chase her away just a little. But she stays close, and he usually lets her eat with him. And so tiny! Smallest feet of any pigeon we've seen. But she looks like she's starting to get bigger now, or so it seems this morning.

But that means we've been crediting him with more squabs than there could be -- Phil, Faye and now Pim. All three can't be his, and we're thinking now we may have made a mistake about Phil. I thought she went squealing to Henry once, but she may have just been squealing out of general fright or even to another pigeon that was present.


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## Siam Sam

Siam Sam said:


> LOTS of new young pidgees arriving, with at least one still having some of its yellow fuzz. Just this morning (Friday morning, a young one that was BLACK black came by for the first time. With HUGE eyes. Looked almost like a cross with a mynah bird. The regular Dark One, which is one of the usual bullies, attacked it viciously, and I had to break it up. But this new one wandered around out there all morning.


Well, this new black one is now a regular. Poor little guy, looks half-mynah. We do get the odd mynah bird or two stopping by. But if you look closely, he's not as black as he appears at first glance, there's a definite pattern to be seen. Goofy-looking little guy. In fact, that's what we call him, Goofy. Always has a few feathers out of place too, turned over to reveal a lighter shade underneath, adding to the comical effect. Definitely the low man on the totem pole now, as even Faye and Pim chase him.

And Pim is still sticking with Daddy. No romantic invlovement that we can see, but I suspect it would be fine with her if there were. She really loves her Daddy and stays with him 24/7 from what we can tell.

We're keeping the curtains closed more now, as there's strting to be too many coming around again, but when Henry -- and Pim -- comes around, we think he can detect curtain movement, from the air-con, and jumps into the window. So then we'll feed him but still have to stand guard to keep the bullies away. Ladyboy and now Goofy will hang out there all day long until we feed them. The return of the really hot weather has resulted in an increase in bath activity. And the other day, we found the remnants of a hatched pigeon egg on our balcony. We can only assume it blew there from a balcony higher up. We've listened for squealing but can't hear any, but then there are 30 floors of balconies above ours. I suppose it could have been stuck to a pidgee's foot who flew here. Wonder who it belonged to.

Promise to get those photos up soon.


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## Siam Sam

Finally, the promised new photos! 

But first I have to say we're leaning against the notion that Pim is Henry and Maggie's daughter from possibly their last batch. They stopped being inseparable, coming here instead on different schedules that would seem to indicate eggs are being looked after somewhere by one of them at all times. If Pim were truly as young as we'd thought, this would probably be too soon for her to be laying eggs. But we're sure they're related somehow. You can see for yourself.

The photos below were all taken between February 9 and March 16.

One more of Phil

Faye. We're pretty sure she's Henry's daughter. If you look closely, you can see a couple of very light-brown streaks in her wing. Skittish little girl. Freaks out if you just look at her.

Ladyboy and Faye

Phil and Faye

A couple of cute ones. Phil taking a bath while her mate Dot lounges down next to the water dish and gives her a head massage. That's Ladyboy over on the rail and an unknown gray barely visible between the two large pots. And then after Phil finished, Dot takes his bath while Phil dries out in the "Living Room." Ladyboy seems to be looking around for something to eat.

And now, Henry's new mate, Pim. Henry was around somewhere when I took this, maybe chasing away other pidgees.

Ladyboy and Pim

Pim and Henry eating together. You can see the green on her throat/upper chest a little better here. We think it could mean one she's the daughter of the Big Pretty One, who is one of the bullies we have to guard against. But we don't know.

Pim and Henry again. You can see the size difference. It's a hoot to watch them flying together off in the distance, with tiny Pim trailing behind big Henry.

Goofy! A funny little guy. Seems all alone. We've taken pity on him.

A closer look at Goofy. He always has a few feathers turned up out of place. And you can see he has a little bit of a pattern etched into his wing feathers and is not as dark as he initially appears.

Pim and Henry in birdseed heaven 

A group photo: Ladyboy, Goofy, Pim and Henry. The size difference between Henry and Pim is apparent here, too.

A very good shot of Pim. A little cutie, it's easy to tell what Henry sees in her. The green is easily seen here.

Goofy again. He always seems comical. Part of it is the way his eyes seem to bulge out, an effect of the orange against the black background. And his clown feet.

Finally, Goofy and Pim.

Meanwhile, we think maybe the eggs, if any, have hatched, as Henry has started showing up again mid-day, around lunchtime, in addition to his early-morning and late-afternoon appearances. But he and Pim are alternating their visits, perhaps so there is someone around the squabs at all times. We're guessing at this, and it's different behavior than we saw with Maggie. But we expect to see some youngsters around here soon.

Actually, we do see quite a few new ones making their way here, appearing once or twice, then gone. But the regulars are still here. One new one that seems to be sticking around is a beautiful white pigeon, almost all white with a little cream tinting thrown in. Will have to try and take a photo of her. Him? Not been able to decide the gender yet.

But lots of new grays have also started to appear, and they're causing problems when trying to feed the regulars, so we have to be judicious about feeding times. One of the main bullies, the Big Pretty One, is shameless in chasing everyone away and taking it all for himself and his mate, so we keep chasing him away, but he keeps trying to sneak back in. We'll be upcountry for a few days next week to escape the dreaded Songkran holiday, and hopefully that will help to thin out the flock some.

Dot, Phil's mate, has apparently learned Henry's trick of jumping up into the window to ask for food. One or two others have jumped up onto the little metal ledge that the sliding doors run along, but they're clearly looking to peck into any dirt residue collecting there. Dot, on the other hand, jumps up and just stares in like Henry does, so he may have figured out how that works. Then we'll feed him and Phil a little if not too many others are around, but Dot likes to play the Big Boss a little too much himself. (Remember that Dot is the male and Phil the female.)


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## Siam Sam

Several new ones this weekend. A funny-looking one with yellow fuzz still on top of the head and a yellowish beak. But one that was striking was a red pidgee! Mostly red, or mostly a brownish red, although more to the red end of the scale. Never seen that color of red before. Apparently a male, and he stopped by once a few days ago, then came to hang around late yesterday (Sunday). Took some pictures and will post. But there was a smaller one that had some red in it too, and this larger one seemed to be protecting it from a bully. They may be siblings.

What surprised us most was when Henry had a big feed yesterday, left, returned a short time later ... but it wasn't Henry! We thought "Oh, back already, eh?" Then we noticed he'd suddenly lost a lot of weight. A LOT of weight. Turns out it was a much smaller version of Henry, a little Henry doll. I don't think we need a DNA test to tell paternity for that one. Cute little guy, must be what Henry himself looked like at one time. Hope he comes back.


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## Siam Sam

A few new photos, all taken last month:

Phil and Dot, female and male, respectively, share a snooze in one of the tree pots.

Big Red. We've seen three red ones of varying sizes. Big Red is the biggest. None comes around very much now.

Big Red the eating machine. Just look at him go! Note his socky feet; even his toes are feathered!

Phil confronts Big Red.

Mint, almost all white, in our dining-room window.

That's all. No new ones of Henry, but he still visits several times a day. Still orders his meals by hopping onto the little metal runners for the sliding glass doors. This one's an old photo, but it shows him doing that. Occasionally, _very_ occasionally, we have to turn Henry away if there are too many pigeons around; we'll close the curtains, and I swear you can see the indignant surprise in his face.

I thought we had an emergency on Tuesday. A young gray pigeon was flopping around on the balcony floor as if injured. I thought it might be a broken wing or leg. But thankfully no. I had sloshed a couple of buckets of water out there a little earlier, and it turned out the pidgee was trying to take a bath in the water that had yet to drain out! Completely ignored the water dish.

And there are three Goofies now. Two more showed up about the same time, almost carbon copies of the original but a little smaller and slightly different shades of color. But the same clown feet and clown eyes. The original Goofy doesn't seem to care for them. I wonder if they all have the same parents.

Otherwise, still pretty much the same crowd. Ladyboy and the small Pretty One are appearing together again, so it may be mating time soon. Several new ones, including a whitish one or two that must be related to Henry somehow. Henry's still the king, and it's almost like having a pet. Wish he would let us touch him.

But the big news now is that Henry seems to have stolen Phil away from Dot.  Henry started doing a mating call this week for the first time since before Maggie. And despite the evident coziness between Phil and Dot in the first photo above, a week or so ago I noticed that they seemed to stay far apart whenever they showed up together, and Henry would sometimes let Phil eat with him instead of chasing her away. Then yesterday (Thursday), the wife saw Henry not only let Phil eat with him, but aggressively chase Dot off the balcony. Full attack mode. So Henry and Phil may be an item now, with poor Dot left out in the cold.

It's Friday morning now, and Henry and Phil showed up together for breakfast. I guess they really are mates now.


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## Siam Sam

Hello. I'm back again. Just to let you know, Henry iss till coming around, four years now. His present mate is Geri, and they've been together for about two years I think, since shortly after that last post.

The website I had our photos on, Multiplier.com, went down, and I have new photos since May on Flickr. You can see them here. The two nesting now is Henry's daughter Ladyboy and another white named The Bully.

There are some YouTube videos I'll link too also soon.


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## Siam Sam

I posted this in my Dud Egg thread by mistake:

It's still a little early to tell, but Pete may be the first one not to snap at me. He seems really to enjoy the breast and head rubs I give him. I mean even more so than the others. And yesterday (Sunday), when he was a week old, I was out on the balcony cleaning, and it looked as though he was "following" me in the Living Room. He can scoot around pretty good, and he kept turning toward me and moving in my direction no matter where I was. The wife noticed this too. He's really a sweet little guy. (Maybe a girl?) But I expect his instincts will kick in in a couple more days, and he'll start snapping at me defensively and then even flee once he's fully mobile. But it's nice to think maybe this is the one who will really act like a pet.

Every night after dark, we have Ladyboy, The Bully and Charlie all staring in at us. They rarely look outward. Always staring. Stare, stare, stare, all night long. We do wonder what they make of us.


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## Siam Sam

Photos:

First, an update on Charlie. You can see him here and here at age 3 months and one day. I had to interrupt his late-night snack to take these photos.

And now we have a freshly hatched Pete, just an hour or two old, maybe even less, with a little egg stuck to the back of his head. And the next morning, maybe nine hours old now. At this point, we did not know the other egg was a dud and were still anticipating poor little Pam's arrival.

Comatose Pete snoozing away at two days old. (Really about 30 hours old. Remember, he hatched just before midnight, thereby screwing up his age dates a little, but I'll just keep it calendrical for simolicity's sake.) And using his almost-sister's egg as a pillow.

And a couple of days later at age four days. You can see he's losing his fresh pink color now.

And at six days old, his eyes have started to open. (They first opened the day before.) And again. His little wings are really coming along here.

The next day, one week old, and we've removed the other egg.

And finally, three different views at age 11 days last Thursday: Here (you can really see those feathers starting to sprout from the shafts), here and here.

And you can see all the pidgee photos one a single page here.

I have a short video too that I'll have to upload. Just after hatching. But that's all for the moment.


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## Siam Sam

And the video is now uploaded. I present to you ... Pete, the world's newest pigeon. Just after hatching. That's some eggshell stuck to the back of his head.


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## Siam Sam

And I transferred Pete to the flower box after cleaning out on the balcony today. Roomy. He's getting about big enough for it now. Fifteen days old.


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## Siam Sam

So I have some new photos up after all. Wanted to clear the camera before we left, although I'll probably take another shot of Pete on Saturday before we leave to compare it with when we come back later this month.

But here are some more of Pete taken this week:

*Monday, October 7, age 15 days:* Looking like a little feather ball. Then a close-up (note the white tip of the bill. They all seem to have that, and it goes away in a few weeks.) Pete snoozing.

*Thursday, October 10, age 18 days:* The head feathers are starting to appear. Thinking of his future.

Also from Thursday (yesterday, as it's Friday morning over here), here's one of Ladyboy, who is Pete's mother and Henry's daughter, his oldest. And Geri, Pete's stepmother (Henry is over on the window frames. She may be looking at him).

Pete is just a sweet little guy. He is the first squab ever who seems perfectly okay with being petted. Always they seem pissed off and/or frightened and once mobile will try to escape. If captured, they just sort of take it but clearly wish I'd go away. Pete is the very first one not to act even the least bit phased by us. He may turn into an actual pet. If he hasn't flown away while we're gone, that is.

I was away yesterday, but the wife reported Henry and Geri stopping by to have kinky sex in the designated sex area, with him on bottom. Possibly inspired by them, The Bully and Lady boy soon after did it the same way! I'll tell ya, our balcony is fornication central.


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## Siam Sam

Monday morning and we're back home. And Pete is _beautiful_.  Still here and four weeks old as of last night. He still let us pet him too! But this morning he's more skittish. Looks almost fully grown, with just a hint of yellow baby fuzz remaining on his breast. Looking big, so we think male for sure, but still smaller than his parents. White patches on his cheeks give him sort of a "clown mouth" like his step-grandmother Geri's. (I'm sure they're related somehow anyway. They all are.)

And ... there are two more eggs.  Ladyboy's been laying her batches about seven weeks apart, and when we returned home last night, that had been about 6-1/2 weeks, so we figure they've been laid very recently, maybe over the weekend. If so, hatching should begin about the middle of the first week of next month. Hope they both make it this time. The names will be Tony and Pam. We discussed whether we could still use the name Pam and decided it was okay. There is a Tony No Toes who stops by occasionally, missing some toes, but this one will just be Tony.

And Charlie's still here at night. Four months old as of last Thursday.

The trip was excellent. This is the place we stayed: Bann Makok on Kood Island (or Koh Kood, as _koh_, sometimes spelled _ko_, is Thai for "island"). We highly recommend it. Up a canal and accessed only by boat, to get to the beach you have to kayak down the canal, so it's not for people who want to stay right on the beach. But after staying here, we'll not stay any other place on that island. Room 5, our room, seems to be the best for two people. Close to Cambodia. We'd read that the Beckhams, David and Victoria, bought a vacation home on Koh Kood a few years ago. Then the crew of the boat we went snorkeling on pointed out the one they thought it was, but they weren't completely sure. It was close to Bann Makok.


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## Siam Sam

After acting skittish this morning, Pete calmed back down today while I was out on the balcony cleaning. It took my a lot longer to clean too, because I couldn't stop petting and playing with him.


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## Siam Sam

Wednesday morning and month-old Pete -- he turned one month or 30 days last night -- just made his first off-balcony flight that we saw. To the window frames while I was out there cleaning. Not sure if he was trying to get away from me or just following Dad. I can easily catch him to pet, but he clearly would rather I didn't. Still, he doesn't try _too_ hard to escape, not like Henry or Ladyboy with their zero chance of ever touching.

Will post photos and another video soon. You'll be amazed at the before-and-after shots surrounding our trip.


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## Siam Sam

Sunday night and Pete turns five weeks old tonight. Absolutely cute little guy. But here's a development: The Bully, Pete's father, seems to be taking an inordinate amount of interest in him. Ladyboy, the mother, pretty much just ignores him now, but Pete is always with Dad. Still getting fed by him, although he does eat some seeds now. Dad is always preening Pete, or cooing at him, or trying to persuade him to fly. The wife thinks this may be due to Pete's only-child status, because she remembers back when we had Big and Little Pidgee, Big Pidgee was close to George, another only squab.

But I'm wondering if Pete may be a girl after all and Dad is having some, er, inappropriate feelings for her. They are _really_ close. And Dad plays favorites. Charlie continues to live here but is disliked now by both parents. Poor little guy, who turned four months 10 days ago, gets snapped at by them.

Meanwhile, the new eggs continue to incubate. We expect them to hatch anytime from next weekend. Probably the middle of the first full week in November. Remember, we don't know exactly when this clutch was laid, but it must have been about last weekend. Henry and Geri are taking turns coming here now and at regular hours, so they must be doing the traditional trade-off, but The Bully and Ladyboy stay here together all day and night long for the most part.

Unfortunately, after this clutch hatches, we may have to remove the pots.  Charlie shows no signs of moving out. Pete is still young, but he's so close to Dad, if indeed Pete is a he. Quite possibly Mandie, Kenny and Laurie would be staying here still, but we suspect they've been killed or captured, as it's unusual for squabs _never_ to show back up here. These parents just don't seem to boot out their children as forcefully as Big and Little Pidgee did. It may be time to intervene with some Tough Love.

I'll try to put those photos up this week. The wife took a cute one yesterday of Pete in the Living Room with Dad, who's sitting on the new eggs.


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## Siam Sam

Photos! 

Here is Pete at age 19 days on October 11, the day before we left.

And now the Big Comparison: Pete at age 20 days the day we left, October 12. And eight says later, age 28 days or four weeks, October 20. Quite a difference.

Then a family shot the next day, October 21, age 29 days. From left, that's Pete, The Bully on the floor and Ladyboy up on the rail. And those are the new eggs, Pete and Pam. And one more of Pete that day. And another. A fine-looking bird he's turned out to be. Bonus: A new one of Henry, that same day. Been coming around for just over four years now.

And age 31 days on October 23. He's on the left, keeping company with his father The Bully while the latter sits on the eggs.

And then last Saturday, Pete hopped back into the nest with Dad, age 34 days.

And that's pretty much how Pete still looks now. Again, completely Daddy's baby, as Mama is concentrating on the eggs.

I have a video too, but I'll have to load that later in the week.


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## Siam Sam

The new video is uploaded, from early last week. Monday, October 21. 29-day-old Pete demands Dad feed him. Mama minds the new eggs.

And you can link to other pigeon videos I made from there.

And speaking of the new eggs, it's Saturday morning here. Henry ordered his breakfast as usual by jumping up into the window. When I fed him, Ladyboy moved away from the nest, and I thought I could see some tiny cracks in one egg. Upon inspection, it looks like there are cracks in both eggs. Tiny, nascent cracks. I could not see the eggshell moving, but holding one of them, I'm pretty sure I felt movement inside. Looks like Tony and Pam may be coming out soon.


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## Siam Sam

And we have squabs! Tony and Pam both hatched this morning, November 3. I came home a little after 2am and saw a small hole in both eggs and movement beneath one of them. Come daylight and Voila! The problem is they look exactly alike, so we're not sure which one is Tony and which Pam. There is no clear first-hatched.


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