# Abandoned Babies



## jasonandali (Dec 4, 2010)

About three months ago I started feeding a few pigeons that came on my balcony. After about a month and a half, one came along and was getting picked on quite a bit so I built him a house with some rabbit hay in it so he could go into it. Instead, a couple of weeks later, I noticed a bird had laid two eggs in there. The babies are approx. two weeks old now, give or take a couple of days, and up until today, the mother and father have been doing the shift switches where the mother would be here during the day, father in the night, etc. Today no mother/father bird has been in the little nest and the babies are alone. One bird (not sure if it is the mother or father or an unrelated bird) went in the nest a couple of times today but only for less than a minute each time. I tried bottle feeding the babies but they wouldn't take the food. Should I keep trying? Also, I am have made a new nest for the babies as the one they have now has a lot of poop in it and I don't think they should be living in a nasty nest. Is it a good idea to move them to a new nest I have made or not? And should I keep trying to feed them and raise them by myself if the parents do not show up?


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## Dobato (Jul 3, 2008)

Jason, welcome to Pigeon-Talk and your concern for these little ones.

I am about to call it a day, but I thought I would make a quick post for you, posts from others will I am sure follow. This is normal behavior for the parent to leave their young unattended for periods of time once they reach a certain age. They will come and feed them which only takes a minute or two and then are gone again, you want to keep an eye on them to make sure that they are indeed being feed, their crops (a storage pouch for food, top of chest area, bottom of neck) should be nicely full like in the photos in this link:

http://www.mumtazticloft.com/BabyPigeons.asp

Do not touch or move the nest or the parents may indeed abandon them, ignore the poop it will dry up and this is normal, nasty as you say, if you are not used to seeing it, but normal. Try to be discrete in your observations or you may keep the parents from attending to them.

Keep us updated,

Karyn


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## jasonandali (Dec 4, 2010)

Thanks for your reply! The babies have been left alone for probably no more than 5 minutes at a time previously but today there has been no mother or father around from around 6:45am - about 20 minutes ago which has been about 12.5 hours. Is it normal for them to leave babies alone for that long? 

As it turns out, the father has now shown up and is laying on top of them and hopefully he will see the night through. 

: ) - ali .


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## ptras (Jun 29, 2010)

jasonandali said:


> Thanks for your reply! The babies have been left alone for probably no more than 5 minutes at a time previously but today there has been no mother or father around from around 6:45am - about 20 minutes ago which has been about 12.5 hours. Is it normal for them to leave babies alone for that long?
> 
> As it turns out, the father has now shown up and is laying on top of them and hopefully he will see the night through.
> 
> : ) - ali .


Entirely normal. After the babies are ten to fourteen days old, the parents will usually stop sitting on them. Some of my babies were all alone for most of the day except feeding time, and they are doing fine.


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## Dobato (Jul 3, 2008)

Ali, if you would like to do something more for this family, you could put out some wild bird seeds in a dish and a dish of water as well, just sprinkle a few seeds around these dishes to attract them over and they will take it from there (if the seeds you buy have the large white strip sunflower seeds in it, take these out, as they are too large for pigeons). There is always a small danger that when parents go out to forage for food for their young, and themselves, something could happen to them. Helping them with some food/water will keep the parents nearer, and give a boost in food/nutrition for these little guys, which will help them grow stronger faster, so they can grow up strong and be off on their own quicker.

Karyn


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## Jaye (Mar 13, 2008)

Ali...thanks for caring about the babies.

Actually...the parents probably spooked a bit when you began to intercede. But pigeons tend to be very loyal parents that will display some fortitude before abandoning their kids.

That one came back is good. It is at about 10 -14 days that the parents stop sitting the babies all the time, as noted by others above. (Look at those pin-feathers coming in on the babies...compared to the nice, yellowish fluffy downy sorta feathers they initially were growing. Would YOU like to SIT on those pinfeathers 24/7 ? ). But even after they stop sitting, they are usually around keeping an eye...and as noted, they will return to feed 'em several times a day.

IF a period of, say...more than 12 hours goes by, OR at least one parent does not return in the evening so the babies are alone at night...THEN is the time to start worrying. At this age, they can live 24 hours without parental care providing their nest is in a safe place. But it is at that point you can be concerned. IF the parents really are not seen nor heard of for 24 hours, THEN you should bring them in.

Doesn't sound like the situation here. Also...yeah, the nest is gross....but they are OK in it...matter of fact, it is their little cozy home and it shouldn't be removed until they have fledged.

Can you post some pics (without spooking the parents) ?


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

At this age, the parents may very well have started another nest somewhere, and that is what they are up to now that is taking them away from these 2 babies. That is also normal. They may have come to feed them quickly, and you may have missed it. I don't think you could possibly have been watching every minute of the day. I do understand your concern for them, but as long as the parents are coming to feed, they will probably be okay. The suggestion of leaving seed and water close by is a good one. Don't move them though, and try to not let the parents see you near them. Just keep an eye on them, and in another couple of weeks they will probably be eating seed themselves. Please keep us updated on their progress. Thanks.


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## jasonandali (Dec 4, 2010)

Hi everyone, Jason here, Ali is my wife. 

Thanks for replies, they have helped ease our concerns.

Ali has fed the pigeons all along, even before they decided to nest here. The babies are very safe here, we live on a 6th floor apartment with a large balcony and the birds are in a box/nest that Ali put out for a pigeon that was quite small and was always hanging around here by itself. When other pigeons came here they would chase it away and peck at it so she felt sorry for it and tried to give it a home lol. Well he/she was a bit too timid to go in there but the the others must have thought it would make a great nest and quickly took it over.
The nest is only about 15ft from our living room and having glass doors we can see it all the time.The birds know us and don't really seem too scared of us, especially the bigger (father?) one. They'll even eat out of your hand sometimes. 
We have some photos, I'll get them on the computer and upload them.


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## Dobato (Jul 3, 2008)

Hi Jason, thanks for the more full description and details on their circumstances, I should have figured if you put a shelter out for them, you were probably feeding them as well, good on you.

Love to see the photos when you get a chance,

Karyn


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

Photos would be great.


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## jasonandali (Dec 4, 2010)

I hope these pictures are ok.


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## Dobato (Jul 3, 2008)

Jason, thanks for the photos. I believe all should be well for them, but just keep an observant eye on them, and if you are unsure of anything, just check in here.

Karyn


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

They're really cute. Thanks.


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## malfunctional (Jan 27, 2009)

Cute. They are definitely old enough to be left alone. Interesting the beak colours


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## Pigeon80error (Sep 25, 2010)

man those are great pictures.


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