# How old is this pigeon and when will s/he learn to fly?



## barbarainaz (Jun 13, 2017)

Hello all,

We have had pigeons nesting on the eves of our front patio for years. It's a little messy but I enjoy the sounds of them cooing and have not had the heart to run them off. 

We also have a pair Red Tail Hawks in a backyard tree that have been there for years. 

6-8 weeks ago, one of the hawks found one of the pigeon nests (there were two nests in our front patio) and killed one of two babies - I was able to scare the hawk away, but the baby didn't make it. The hawk wouldn't leave and was screeching at me for 15 minutes (probably wanted the other baby to feed his/her own babies since it was that season, but I'm no bird expert).

Anyway, I took the whole nest with the remaining baby in it to a sanctuary (Liberty Wildlife) - because the hawk was NOT leaving and I knew as soon as I was inside, he would snatch the other baby (babies were rather large, still had a fair amount of yellow baby 'hair' - I'm guessing 2 weeks old based on photos I've seen).

Approximately two weeks later, two more babies showed up in the nest on the other pillar top. About ten days ago, I found one of the babies at my front door behind a planter. I thought he'd probably fallen, so I looked up in his nest - the other baby was dead and looks to have been dead for a while - about half the size of his sibling. So, I've been putting out wild bird seed and fresh water every day. S/he's old enough to eat it. I have not touched him/her ever. 

There is yet ANOTHER nest on yet another pillar where a parent pigeon keeps vigil. Occasionally, very early in the morning, I watch her/him come over to the spot at my front door and 'pick' at baby, who I call 'Pidget". Pidget only leaves his safe spot at my front door in the morning. he'll walk around my covered patio - he was even playing with a plastic bottle that the landscaper left behind - flinging it in the air over and over again. Cute. 

My questions:

How old does 'Pidget' look? I can't tell - in fact, the white on his looks weird to me.

When will he leave my doorstep? (My husband is not thrilled about the mess he's making - but we don't want to disturb him or the area until he's capable of flying off on his own and taking care of himself. 

When should I stop feeding him so he can get out there on his own and not rely on me? I've also been putting food out for his parent - further away, on the driveway where all the neighborhood birds gobble it up heartily - though Parent Pidget is a bit of a bully and scares away everyone except the baby quail (very politically correct pigeon, apparently). 

It's been fun watching him grow - as you can see in the photos, he's directly next to a window, so our family watches him up close, as do the dogs and cat, who are very curious. Oddly, 'Pidget' is curious too - he watches us watching him and responds to my voice, though he cowers when my hand gets too close when I am replacing the food and water trays.

Thanks for any help!

Photos:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B-GMccoENEf4YlExQnZjOUQ1VHc/view?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B-GMccoENEf4S3dXNEhodEQwWU0/view?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B-GMccoENEf4TWM0SHUyWDh1SDA/view?usp=sharing


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## Jass SamOplay (May 29, 2012)

Hello and welcome to PT
Thanks for your love for pigeons, they need it..
Does the bird always sits on the ground? It is so unsafe for him to do so... He's scalped too. Something's been pecking on him.
He looks to be around 35-40 days of age. He can fly but might be injured. You gotta check for that.
If I were in your place I wouldnt let birds nest where they and their babies are unsafe.
And either pigeons or hawks..I would have cut the branch on which red tail hawks are nesting before they started family there. 
Pigeons are nesting in a line of fire out there. You gotta do something...


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## barbarainaz (Jun 13, 2017)

Thank you Jass. I wondered why his head looked weird. I will take him to the sanctuary. They must not be his parents after all and have been pecking him when we thought they were helping him. I feel terrible now. I'll get him to the sanctuary asap. The hawks live in an enormous Eucalyptus (well over 125' feet tall, actually on my neighbor's property). As soon as we take this pigeon to the sanctuary, and soon as the two babies that were born a few days ago on top of one of the pillars are of an age to fly, we will remove the nests so the parents can make their home elsewhere. Poor Pidge.


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## cwebster (Dec 11, 2010)

Thank you for helping Pidget. Red tails nest in our yard too along with red shouldered hawks. They are a real problem. I nearly peed myself while trying to get our escaped male pigeon, Blue, to return home and a red tail casually landed right next to us.
Please make sure the wildlife rescue treats and doesnt just euthanize pigeons. We adopted our first injured feral because our local wildlife people dont consider pigeons worthy of rescue.


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## barbarainaz (Jun 13, 2017)

I took Pidge in today to the wildlife rescue - they specialize in birds. I spoke directly with the vet while he examined Pidge. He confirmed that she's still a fledgling and cannot yet fly. She WAS pecked on the head, poor girl - thank you, Jass for that heads up - I just thought maybe she wasn't developing correctly. He said other than that, she was in very good health and would rehab very well. They are amazing at Liberty Wildlife. 

The Red Tail Hawks are beautiful to watch but scary for the resident rabbit and smaller bird population. We also have coyotes in our front yard regularly, and on occasion, javelina. Never in the back because we have two very large dogs.

Thank you for the responses. I may be back (but I hope I won't need more help) as there are two brand new baby pigeons out there now - once they leave the nest, we will be cleaning house and making sure they cannot nest in the eves of the patio any more, for their own protection.


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