# Balcony pigeon story



## draykie (Dec 14, 2006)

Regular urban pigeons, these folks are. Their entire story as far as my knowing of their existence started about two to three years ago, when a mated pair decided that the tarp-draped barbecue on our apartment balcony was an ideal place to make a nest. Unfamiliar with pigeon courting and nest-making, we were none the wiser until the first, high-pitched cries of two chicks - a boy and a girl - were hatched as spitting images of their parents.

It wasn't until a week or so later that yet another chick emerged from the barbecue, apparently the runt of the bunch who hatched much later than his brother and sister. Constantly bullied by his siblings for being smaller than them, he was pecked and picked on when mom and dad brought home food until barely any feathers remained on his neck and head. For this, he was aptly named Scruffy. We were almost positive he'd never make it, especially since mom never seemed able to get him any food.

But, as time went by, mom and dad moved on. Scruffy's sister migrated elsewhere with a pretty male whose wings were tipped white and his brother was unfortunately made into a hawk's dinner one summer afternoon. Scruffy 'inherited' his parents' house and now resides as, quite possibly, the oldest and definitely the strongest pigeon in the area. He and his mate, Belle, have reared countless batches of children, mostly on our balcony.

Regrettably, I've been unable to snap any shots of his and Belle's kids at this point, but maybe at some time in the future. For now, here's Scruffy and Belle, who wisely decided to stay in the area since being secretly fed stashes of sunflower and vitamin-enriched pigeon seeds for years now.









Sorta' reminds me of that scene in the Lion King where Simba's overlooking the savannah...









"Who is that intruder with the camera!?"

After a year or so of peace and solitude with his mate and family, another flock of pigeons moved into the area, narrowly missing migration and death at the claws of several hawks that followed them and then left the neighbourhood. Within this flock was a very, very weird pigeon. The rest of the feral pigeons were afraid of humans, but this one would come to sit down beside you while you relaxed on the balcony, then fell asleep by your head. He was the only one with spotty grey wings in the community that we'd seen so far, and was thusly named Grey. He learned quickly the value of humans with food.









And he also thought he was Simba.









And then he saw my camera and struck a pose

Since then, many other pigeons have found homes around here, either on the roofs of stores, bars, apartments, or balconies. One can only hope that the balconies they choose to nest on are those of pigeon-lovers, or at least pigeon-tolerators to the point where pest control won't need to be called.

If you like the pictures, tell me as much. I have a lot more and I also have videos of Grey eating while Scruffy gets really, really angry at him.


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## Pidgey (May 20, 2005)

Welcome to Pigeon-Talk! It's a nice story and we all like those kind. I will tell you though that it's kinda' odd having three chicks at one time if I read what I think I read about Scruffy. They usually only lay two at a time and when those two are a couple of weeks old, they lay another two, generally in an alternate nest. The first two will be almost full grown before the second two hatch. The father takes over all care of the first two until they're eating, drinking and flying.

Pidgey


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## Reti (Jul 20, 2003)

Great story and wonderful pics.
Yes, we want more pics, we love pics.
Those pijies certainly know where to make home.

Welcome to PT, BTW.

Reti


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## Skyeking (Jan 17, 2003)

Hi draykie!

Welcome to pigeon Talk,

Thank you for the kindness you have shown our noble feral pigeons. I know they greatly appreciate the pigeon seed and snacks.

I enjoyed your story and especially the pictures. They are priceless.

Please share some more.


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## draykie (Dec 14, 2006)

*More pictures*

Thanks for the warm welcome. I'm sure my showoff buddies appreciate it, too.

Here's Grey back in the summer, although the picture quality is pretty bad.









Eating on a barbecue shelf, right by my head.









Standing at attention!









Thirsty and in better quality at our old water fountain that we had set up for them.









Pigging out... again.

More to come. Stay tuned.


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## draykie (Dec 14, 2006)

Party time! From closest to furthest, it's Grey, Scruffy, and Belle.









This kind of reminded me of that one da Vinci painting. Scruffy and Belle on the bar, while another pigeon, Bubsy, joins in the preening frenzy above.









Scruffy and Belle take some time to relax with each other.









And then he got hungry and decided to beg at the door.


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## draykie (Dec 14, 2006)

He was fed and he was happy.









So he hung out with his buddy.









Another Grey-on-the-fountain picture. He's about to leave.









Random, bad quality shot of Belle, the picture-shy hen.

And then, we have movies.

http://s95.photobucket.com/albums/l151/KyuDreyk/?action=view&current=greyeat.flv
http://s95.photobucket.com/albums/l151/KyuDreyk/?action=view&current=greyeat.flv
http://s95.photobucket.com/albums/l151/KyuDreyk/?action=view&current=greyeat3.flv
http://s95.photobucket.com/albums/l151/KyuDreyk/?action=view&current=greyeat4.flv
http://s95.photobucket.com/albums/l151/KyuDreyk/?action=view&current=greyeat5.flv


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## Maggie-NC (Jun 22, 2005)

Hi Draykie

Welcome to the forum. It is so wonderful to read a post from someone who has taken the time to learn how loving pigeons are and to help them with food and water. I have really enjoyed your pictures and the story that goes with them.

Sounds like Scruffy's adolesence helped make him a stronger pigeon. 

Thank you.


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## Feather (Dec 8, 2005)

Yea...for little Scuffy! I loved their story and all of their pictures. Thank you so much for posting them for us.

Feather


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## arnieismybaby (Jul 24, 2006)

I loved your story and pictures - it is so refreshing to come across someone who has learned to love and appreciate the beauty of pigeons. 

Michelle


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## Whitefeather (Sep 2, 2002)

Welcome to PT.  
Thanks for sharing your story & pictures. 
It looks like your friends certainly have a wonderful 'Birds Eye View'.  

As is the consensus around here, we enjoy pictures.  

Cindy


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## draykie (Dec 14, 2006)

When Scruffy first brought to our balcony his mate, Belle, we started to feed him to help any would-be families he'd rear with her along. It didn't take much before two eggs were laid - a girl and a boy. The boy migrated elsewhere with another flock, while the girl slept overnight on our balcony for the longest time and was even taken care of quite a few months into her life by her father.

Baby Belle, as we called her, was fully self-sufficient, could find her own food and water, and fly with ease, but for some reason, her dad still would never leave her alone. He came at 5-6AM in the mornings to wake her up, sat with her for an hour, then brought her out for a half-day-long flight. One day, Baby Belle didn't return. She never returned to sleep overnight and we thought one of the local hawks may have gotten lucky again. Fortunately, she was seen again being led about by Grey, who has the attention span and directional skill of a small rock. No wonder she went missing! She now is mated with another white-tipped-wing pigeon like Scruffy's sister went with, who we've named Skunk. However, he's extremely mean and tends to put young pigeons into vicious headlocks with his beak, so he's not fed so as to discourage him from staying around here.

Grey took the longest time to find a mate. It must've been over a year before he started casually stalking a hen with pure white wings and a pale grey body. For her wings, she was named Snow. It took even longer before they mated once and I'm not sure if they've had any chicks yet, as they're presumed to live across the street on a shopping mall's roof.

In our household, we playfully call one or two pigeons 'ours', per person, like a sort of adoption process; a deciding factor in who we baby. My dad's pigeons are Scruffy and Belle and he's also taken to providing plastic tubs that he's not using to Scruffy's offspring, cutting a hole in the wall so one of his daughters can sleep warmly during a Canadian winter on our balcony. She was named Misty for her foggy-grey colours, while her brother was named Oreo for the fact that his wing-tips are pure white with black stripes, like the cookie.

Strangely, Scruffy has been shown to display extreme generosity uncommon to pigeons as far as I know. While Misty and Oreo are not Scruffy's and Belle's direct offspring, they're the children of Skunk and Baby Belle. Scruffy apparently bossed Skunk and his mate out of their nest on the floor below us, then found out they had chicks and decided to adopt them as his own. Belle, however, didn't take well to the idea and continually fought with the babies when they came up to her nest on our balcony, but Scruffy fed them and made sure they had places to sleep for the night. Isn't he a nice grandpa? 

Bubsy originally came to our balcony with his twin brother, who was only different in appearance to him because the brother was much larger. We used to leave seeds out for Scruffy, Belle, Grey, and Snow, but Bubsy and his brother snuck there to eat once. We were going to chase them away so as to discourage large flocks coming here to eat us out of house and home, but when I went out to shoo them, I heard Bubsy squeaking and crying as he ate and couldn't bring myself to do it. For the next two weeks, we regularly fed Bubsy, who developed a habit of knocking on our balcony door with his wings when he was hungry. It was only when he did the same as Skunk - that is, beat on every pigeon he possibly could in the area - that we weaned him off of the sunflower seeds. He's now established independence with a mate and I'm not sure where he lives, but he visits sometimes.

Scruffy and Belle most recently hatched a single chick; a hyper male which we named Squeaker because he constantly squeaked and cried for food from mom and dad as he chased them from newborn status to early flight. Even now, he sometimes does as much, but without the crying. It took forever for him to come out of the barbecue and see what it was like outside, but now that he's taken his first steps (which were done while his parents were mating outside the door... perverted chick), no one can get the little guy to go back inside anymore, at least until it's bedtime.

Misty currently rests on our balcony, in the aforementioned plastic tub. Sometimes, we sneak some seeds into her 'house' for a nighttime snack when she comes home. She's been following a Scruffy clone around that we call Evil Scruffy for his aggressive tendencies, so maybe she wants that booty.


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## Reti (Jul 20, 2003)

You have a wonderful pigeon family there. It was fun to read the stories. I am very happy for those little guy that they have a safe place to go and are so much cared for.
You are wonderful people to help out our beloved pigeons.I enjoyed the pics, they are great.
Thank you.

Reti


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## Maggie-NC (Jun 22, 2005)

Drayki, your observations of your pigeons is delightful to read. That is so sweet that your family has chosen certain pigeons as "theirs". Your pigeons have the best of both worlds - the freedom to fly and be happy and a safe place to come home to. Thank you for telling us about them and I hope you'll share more with us.


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## TitanicWreck (Jun 12, 2003)

What lovely friends you have made!
There is an apt building near my abode, and on one balcony, there are usually 8 pigeons sitting there feet from a large chap sitting there- He's on the 4th floor, and they must trust him, as they land only on his balcony...


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## pdpbison (Mar 15, 2005)

Hi Draykie, 


So cool...!


I enjoyed the images and story...thanks for posting -

You must live somewhere which has frequent rain...

Not so here...where rain is seldom.


Welcome to the forum..!


Phil
Las Vegas


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## draykie (Dec 14, 2006)

It used to rain a good deal in late summers here, but otherwise, it barely does. To help our pigeons and the others in the area, we set up a fountain, as shown in one of my pictures. The water was cleaned and replaced every week or so because some of them had a habit of pooping in it.  We don't feed every pigeon around here, because we don't really want people who live in the apartment block to know that we're attracting all of them to poop on other balconies and such. Some people aren't pigeon fans, apparently. But water was always free to everyone.


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## Skyeking (Jan 17, 2003)

draykie said:


> *We don't feed every pigeon around here, because we don't really want people who live in the apartment block to know that we're attracting all of them to poop on other balconies and such.* Some people aren't pigeon fans, apparently.


That is very wise, and a fundamental rule in feeding pigeons safely. Once people take notice, and complain, it is usually the beginning of the end for our lovely feral birds.


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## Victor (Dec 18, 2004)

Hi Draykie~ I just today had the wonderful opportunity to read tour posts and see your beautiful pictures. That is so kind of you, and I bet they sure appreciate you and yours. They seem to have a sensor built into them,don't they!


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## Garye (Feb 20, 2005)

Loved the pix and the stories. I'm glad Scruffy turned out so well and that he got himself a woman.  

Pigeons are fascinating to watch. You really get to know their personalities.


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## draykie (Dec 14, 2006)

Well, here's me facing a difficult dilemma of maybe cutting off feeding for the guys for at least a little while. Grey seems to have an entire fan club that follows him around with Snow almost everywhere. When he comes to eat, he brings them. We don't want to feed them, but we can't feed him otherwise, and even if we do feed him like that, Grey simply isn't a good fighter.

He can sometimes beat a smaller hen or a juvenile pigeon, but all the males, most of the females, and a large portion of the young pigeons in the area can just wipe him. Poor guy. It makes me worry about whether he'll ever find a good home and be able to defend it from other pigeons.


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## mr squeaks (Apr 14, 2005)

Unfortunately, Draykie, the name of the game is "survival of the fittest." Sounds like Grey is popular though, so he must have some leadership qualities.

I really enjoyed reading about their adventures! Reminded me so much of the soap opera lives of my former Arizona State Univ. pigeons - all started by one male pij named Peter Pied Piper.

They, do indeed, have their own personalities!

Keep those stories and pictures comin'! AND, welcome to the site!


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## Pidgey (May 20, 2005)

It's always tough when you're rooting for the underdog. I've taken several in because of that.

Pidgey


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## draykie (Dec 14, 2006)

Well, bad news.

About two days ago, we heard this random, shotgun-esque bang from around the balcony, which prompted every pigeon sitting around to fly away in sheer fright. One by one, they came back. We counted them off as they returned, if only because we had an idea that something had gone wrong.

Scruffy never came back. We figured he might've snuck into his house before we could look at everything, but he didn't show his face the next day either. So today, my dad went outside and looked over the balcony to see a pigeon lying in the snow six floors down, with his same markings, size, and everything. We've deduced that, while flying home, he must've flown into our neighbour's curtain-less window, thinking it was the sky as the sun reflected off of it or something of the sort, and broken his neck instantly.

To make matters worse, Grey is suddenly an amazing fighter and is throwing out every pigeon that tries to come to the balcony except for his mate. Belle, Scruffy's mate, tried for hours to get back into her house with Squeaker, their son, but to no avail as Grey kept pressing a dominance that was never there before, even going so far as to best aggressive males like Skunk. Eventually, he and Snow both flew away, and Belle and Squeaker have returned to their house, less a mate and less a father.

Either way, I can only hope Scruffy's demise was instant and painless, and that he didn't need to suffer a flightless fall and writhing in the snow before life left him.

R.I.P., big guy.


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## TitanicWreck (Jun 12, 2003)

That is so sad!!!
Im glad he at least found a friend in you....


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## mr squeaks (Apr 14, 2005)

*Oh Darn! I Am So Sorry!!

Conforting Thoughts And Hugs To You!!*


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## TerriB (Nov 16, 2003)

So sorry about Scruffy's death. Sure hope Belle is able to finish raising Squeaker!


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## Victor (Dec 18, 2004)

draykie, I just read your sad news about Scruffy. I am sorry.


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## Skyeking (Jan 17, 2003)

Oh, gosh...I'm so sorry to hear about Scruffy. It really upsets me. We had already fallen in love with him and known him so shortly  because of your wonderful story.

May he rest in peace.


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## draykie (Dec 14, 2006)

A pose struck after I forgot to turn off a voice that yelled 'say cheese!' on my cameraphone. Shortly after, they both flew off in sheer terror.









Belle, through a screen door.









Belle, the photogenic.


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## songofpeace (Jan 8, 2007)

What great stories and pix! I wonder what makes Grey so comfortable with humans! How fun to have a pigeon sleeping next to your head! 

Best,
SongofPeace


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## draykie (Dec 14, 2006)

So, I have a question related to my pidgebird buddies.

Pigeons are supposed to be monogamous, right? If that's the case, it just mystifies me, all this. Skunk has taken to mating with both his actual hen, as well as, at times, Belle (not simultaneously, obviously). Grey has taken to mating with one of the girl pigeons who sleeps here overnight and, most recently, he's also taken up with Belle, to the point where he won't defend his actual mate, Snow, from Belle's attacking her.

Belle has, just today, pretty much taken over Grey's house and they both sit comfortably inside the box without fighting, although they had been fighting earlier in the day. It's also worth noting Belle managed to ward off three pigeons fighting her at once for dominance over the balcony; two males and one female. She's a femme fatale, I swear.

But, anyway - what causes pigeons to stray away from their mates like this? And what's going on with all their housing factors?


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