The Pigeon Family

The Pigeon Family, a photo by Mehool Intwala on Flickr.

A few days back I had mentioned that the pigeons in my balcony were busy building their nest. Well it was for a very good reason and I was absolutely spot on about the mating dance. Earlier in the day today, the female laid 2 eggs. I wasn't sure why they were making all the different noises but I am sure it must be their happy song. I am beginning to understand their noises. I can tell if they are calling their respective mate versus if a new pigeon was in my balcony. The female is still very cautious to feed from my hand but the male is pretty comfortable with me. He even let me take his picture today..

Feeding Pigeon, a photo by Mehool Intwala on Flickr.

The male is very responsible flying off religiously and untiringly to fetch twigs and straws to expand their nest so that the eggs remain warm. The male and the female both take turns keeping the eggs warm while the other flies off in search of food. The understanding and co-ordination between them is worth noting and something that we all can learn from.

Pigeon, a photo by Mehool Intwala on Flickr.

The Pigeons

Pigeon, a photo by Mehool Intwala on Flickr.

I remember when I was a kid, we used to go to the temple every Friday. The temple had a big open space where lots of Pigeons used to come. There used to be close to 100+ pigeons. People would bring seeds along with them to feed the birds. Need-less to say as a kid I used to be all excited.

The really cool thing was that they would feed straight from your hand. I used to take a handful of seeds on my hand and try to stand still. Soon one of the pigeon would fly to my hand and start picking at the seeds one at a time. Occasionally there would be more than 1 pigeon feeding from your hand and at times the odd battle between them. I always loved pigeons and more so feeding them from the hand.

Flash forward 15+ years, and I still enjoy feeding pigeons as I recently realized. I moved to a new apartment a few months back and there are a few pigeons around. I started leaving seeds on the balcony for them and then they would come. I realized that there were 2 in particular that always used to come whenever I was in the balcony. I wanted to them to eat from my hand and so I started training them.

I used to sit with my hand touching the ground and few seeds nearby. Slowly they started to feed from my hand. A little cautious in the beginning with the slightest of movement but I think they got used my unsteadiness :). A few weeks later I had trained them feeding from my hand. I am so excited and makes me feel like a kid again.

So they are a pair (a couple), and it so happens that they like my balcony so much that they made there own cozy little nest at one end. It took them 2 days to make their nest. The male (I am assuming) used to get the twigs and the female used to arrange it and keep the nest warm. Interesting how well they co-ordinate. I also started observing the growling sound they make and soon realized it was there way of calling their mate. The female making the nest would start growling and in a few minutes the male would fly in. I also observed that they walk in a funny manner. The male would follow the female and walk with its neck stretched out. Funny if you ask me but wonder if it is some kind of mating dance. I wonder if they will start a family soon...