Need to relocate a pair of ferals on balcony

[fierrebon]

Hi--

This is long and detailed; please bear with me.

A friend is moving into a new apartment.
There's a pigeon nest on the balcony, at the roofline facing inwards,
with a pile of poop and twigs on the balcony floor,
and the housing inspector insists the nest has to go before he'll certify the apartment.

The nest is obviously occupied, and has been for some time,
but it's unclear to me where the birds are in their breeding
cycle.

When we first looked at the place around 24 days ago,
we saw a mostly grey pigeon sitting in the nest, and found
some broken eggshell on top of the poop mound next to
the column. The pigeon sat there the whole time we looked the apartment.

Today, that pigeon was there along with one that had lots
of white coloring. The mostly grey one flew off,
but the white one stayed as we shoveled up the poop pile in
front of the pillar. It was about fifteen gallons of yuck.

I climbed a ladder and had a look;
the pigeon squeezed back into
the corner and froze, but didn't leave.
I looked down into the nest with a flashlight
and couldn't see any eggs or hatchlings.

We were on the porch cleaning for probably a
half hour and I didn't hear anything. The bird stood (not sat)
in the nest the whole time, and we didn't see the grey bird
come back.

This is in an urban area, so the birds must be used to people
somewhat, especially since it looks like someone may have
intentionally created this nesting spot for them, and it faces
a glass door into a bedroom across only four or five feet of porch.

Is it likely the bird would have just hung out standing there
while we cleaned if there were no eggs or young to protect?
It was mid afternoon and heading into evening; without young,
wouldn't the bird have wanted to be off doing something else?
If there were young, I would have expected to hear them
or for the other parent to return, though...?

If there are eggs or young, I'd like to catch the birds and hold them
and the nest for a day or three until the inspection is done, and
then put them back until the young are raised and gone.

If there aren't any eggs or young, I'd like to give them a new home
someplace else, especially if the female is about to drop a clutch,
but I'm unsure how to get them moved to a new place and get
them to accept it; maybe it's better to let them figure that part out...

Any ideas or suggestions?

If we have to, we could delay the inspection, but my friend would like
to start moving this weekend if at all possible...

Thanks much in advance for any help!

[Feefo]

It is very kind of you and your friend to take the pigeons' interests to heart. They are devoted parents and it has been documented that many died during the great fire of London because they refused to abandon their young.

It is possible that there are young or eggs in there. Some of us who have unreleasable rescues replace the new eggs with plastic ones to prevent breeding and there are often ooops! hatchings, where despite checking by the owner the young or the eggs have been missed.

Often a hen will stand over a single egg until the second one comes, so that they are incubated simultaneously. As far as I know they will not sit on an empty nest over night, so you could check at night.

I think that you will probably have to have a closer look or a gentle feel. If you slide your hand gently under the sitting pigeon she will probably not move. I have done that with strange ferals. Once you establish what is in the nest you can take it from there.

If there is nothing in the nest then it would be best to clean up and let them choose a new spot, or you could place a nesting bowl in the spot where the nest was after the inspection so thay have a good foundation to start building if they are accustomed to using that spot. The nesting bowl will make cleaning up between broods easier.

Good luck