# male sitting in the nest?



## dragoons.izzy (Sep 26, 2012)

i have had a pair of pigeons which have been building a nest for about 3 days now. the male sometimes sits in the nest bowl and pretends like he's sitting on eggs and when ever i put my hand near him when he's sitting in the nest bowl he gets very protective

why is the male doing this? even though the hen has not laid the eggs yet


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## Pijlover (May 5, 2010)

Its very normal behaviour from the cock bird, he first occupies a nest box calls his mate and then they start courting, builiding nest means the hen is about to lay

Its part of his behaviour that he will be possessive about his mate and try to protect his nest box from any of the intruder, similar behaviour can be seen from the hen if you try to reach the eggs


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## nancybird (Jan 30, 2011)

They are very protective of their nest.


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## needo19 (Sep 16, 2012)

I am in the same situation. I have a pair of Birmingham rollers and a pair of Fantails . My rollers have matted once in past 10 days but still no egg but i have noticed that rather than sitting on perch the pair has started to sit and sleep in a box which i have build inside my rabbit hutch. The male goes in and comes on several time a day and when he goes into the box, the female follows him and they stay in it for some time and then come out.My female is very much interested in kissing him but after the last matting the male has kind of lost interest in her . WHY????
On the other hand my Fantails pair , never matted as far as I know , has been kissing and scratching their head for many days and the male calls the female in and the female sits in the nest and the male stays besides her. They make lots of noises in the nest box
and stays majority of day in it, is it because they are scared of my new environment? 
When does a pigeon start building the nest ??? As my rollers have matted 10 days ago but still there are no signs of them showing any interest in collect straws.......?????


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## spirit wings (Mar 29, 2008)

allot of activites lead up to the laying of eggs, each pair is different. most will lay eggs at some point if it is a hen. usually many eggs in their lifetime, in which one would need to use your fake eggs and throw the real ones out for hatch control..


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## scmona (Sep 6, 2012)

My male does the exact same thing. (a pair of doves) He gets irritatied with me if I go near him when he's on the nest. I'm thinking how is Lilly ever going to be able to lay eggs if he's always in the nest?


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## Pijlover (May 5, 2010)

scmona said:


> My male does the exact same thing. (a pair of doves) He gets irritatied with me if I go near him when he's on the nest. I'm thinking how is Lilly ever going to be able to lay eggs if he's always in the nest?


They know all the stuff, hen will lay right in her nest bowl, dont worry


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## dragoons.izzy (Sep 26, 2012)

spirit wings said:


> allot of activites lead up to the laying of eggs, each pair is different. most will lay eggs at some point if it is a hen. usually many eggs in their lifetime, in which one would need to use your fake eggs and throw the real ones out for hatch control..


the male is sitting in the nest bowl like he's sitting on eggs but there is nothing under him he does this most of the day


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## scmona (Sep 6, 2012)

My male too. All day. And no eggs to sit on.


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## NZ Pigeon (Nov 12, 2011)

dragoons.izzy said:


> the male is sitting in the nest bowl like he's sitting on eggs but there is nothing under him he does this most of the day


I have had birds do this, They even swap. It's almost like phantom nests. Mainly older pairs or really fancy breeds that are not as clued up.


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## scmona (Sep 6, 2012)

I did notice that Maxx will finally let Lilly sit in the nest in the mornings. But when she doesn't produce, he goes back to sitting in it himself.


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