# Do feral pigeons make nest during winter?



## RodSD (Oct 24, 2008)

Just what the title says, do they actually do it? I am just curios about this. I actually never seen a feral nest before now that I think about it. I live in an area where feral pigeons don't seem to exist. For that matter, almost light posts have bird spikes in them. In one area where I used to see lots of ferals all of them suddenly disappeared. I am guessing the worst and they probably all got killed. A flock of pigeons by a hundred can't just suddenly disappear.


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## Charis (Feb 11, 2007)

They nest all year long here in Portland.


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## psychopomp (May 5, 2008)

I live in Northern Canada...temps -20 to -30 C ( - 0 to 20 F-ish) at night....and my rescued ferals are nesting!! at least building, one egg but fell and cracked...I think they try anyways but success is better in Spring. 

a flock that big CAN move several miles away if the food changes...it happened here where they built a shopping centre near train tracks that transport grain. in Winter the flock moves there for warmth and food, then disperse in good weather.
I hope yours have done something similar!


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

Wouldn't whether they nest or not depend on the weather, and the availability of food?


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## jameswaller (Nov 4, 2008)

*missing birds*



RodSD said:


> Just what the title says, do they actually do it? I am just curios about this. I actually never seen a feral nest before now that I think about it. I live in an area where feral pigeons don't seem to exist. For that matter, almost light posts have bird spikes in them. In one area where I used to see lots of ferals all of them suddenly disappeared. I am guessing the worst and they probably all got killed. A flock of pigeons by a hundred can't just suddenly disappear.


i kinda ask that myself after a- bout with canker in january, don,t seem to be as many as there was a while ago,..environmental factors-heat/cold,.food supply,..predetory animals are reasons to move,.my pair have been making babies around the clock,since 2004,..so given the correct environment it can happen,.,..bird watching,..sincerely james waller


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## tuxedobaby (Sep 9, 2008)

i observe our special feral flock all year round,,and some go "missing"for a bit,few days,sometimes weeks,i am unsure if they go on a "vacation"of sorts,go to another flock for a bit etc,today saw the return of "wafer"(brown hen) i feared the worst as id not seen her for 3 weeks or so,but i reckon she had hooked up with a male from neighbouring flock,observed a lot of nest building going on at station(1 min from my home)its cold,windy and damp here(typical scottish weather lol),so yeah i think nesting pretty much goes on all the time


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## Feefo (Feb 8, 2002)

Yes! I have had two feral squeakers passed on to me this month, both from different parts of the city.

I wish ferals didn't nest all year round, but they won't be told!


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## Skyeking (Jan 17, 2003)

Jay3 said:


> Wouldn't whether they nest or not depend on the weather, and the availability of food?


Absolutely, I'm sure of that. Where there is plenty of food and places to escape the cold they can afford to nest, but where there is little food and shelter and the weather is extreme, they are just looking to survive.


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## becege (Mar 12, 2003)

I have seen feral babies in a nest here in Northern Illinios in Mid-February. They start nesting as soon as the days get longer.


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## UncleBuck (Dec 23, 2008)

Growing up in RI I remember several places where the ferals nested all year long. When the river froze over, I could walk along the edge of it, to the underside of a bridge and catch the ferals at night. I remember quite a few nest had eggs in them and I would let the adults I caught go. But if I pulled one off a nest with no eggs, I took it home and added to my flock.
I remember there were some pretty good colored birds mixed in with them. I always wondered if they were the result of somebodies birds who joined the feral flock and they mated up. Never caught any with bands on them though.


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

UncleBuck said:


> Growing up in RI I remember several places where the ferals nested all year long. When the river froze over, I could walk along the edge of it, to the underside of a bridge and catch the ferals at night. I remember quite a few nest had eggs in them and I would let the adults I caught go. But if I pulled one off a nest with no eggs, I took it home and added to my flock.
> I remember there were some pretty good colored birds mixed in with them. I always wondered if they were the result of somebodies birds who joined the feral flock and they mated up. Never caught any with bands on them though.


That's interesting. Since they were ferrals, you probably didn't race them. What did you do with your flock?


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## LUCKYT (Jan 17, 2009)

becege, makes the best point here, i also have seen nests in Feb., since the days start getting longer Dec.21st, i am sure there is some year round nesting, depending on were you live. But there is none going on around here in Dec. or Jan. at least in the spots i keep an eye on. But in Chicago i have seen huge areas that never got "dark" at all, and i am sure they could. Dave


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## TAWhatley (Mar 6, 2001)

Pigeons in Southern California (where the weather is mild) nest and raise young all year long. I never know when I get that baby in December if it's an early or a very late one ..

Terry


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## UncleBuck (Dec 23, 2008)

Mostly I kept them because I was a stupid kid and thought more were better. I did eventually let them out to fly and they always came back to my loft. Like I said, they must have mixed with someones private flock, because they had different colors and I liked the colors and some of these birds were BIG! I guess for awhile I was a collector, instead of a fancier.


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

I live almost on the line of R.I. That's funny. Guess they came back to you because they knew they had it much better there than in the wild. LOL. How old were you? How many birds did you have?


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