Pigeons in the window

[ElleMichele]

I live in Manhattan, and a pigeon laid eggs in my window. Not wanting to be a destroyer of wildlife, and against most people's advice, I left them there to hatch.

So now I have two baby pigeons in my window, who keep me awake with their constant chirping. I might go crazy. I don't want to displace them, but I'm at the end of my rope. The mother pigeon comes by to feed them and watch, so I don't want to move them (and wouldn' t know how anyway). They are about 10 days old.

Is there anything that I can do to get them to go away? Should they be flying soon? Something to keep them quiet? Please help!!

[Pidgey]

Welcome to Pigeons.com. I wish your circumstances were a little less unpleasant! Actually, most of us love the sounds of pigeons so it's a bit difficult for us to imagine your displeasure with it but we can certainly take your word for it.

Usually, pigeons don't make much noise and one parent or the other is constantly sitting on them for the first ten days or so. During that time, they often make extremely little sound and are far and away quieter than most other birds. I'm almost curious by your description if this isn't some other bird.

Anyhow, if it was me and I was bothered that much, I'd probably try to wedge a pillow or a cushion from the couch in the window when it was bothering me to help absorb some of the sound. At the same time, I'd try running a fan to create "white noise" to help cover any sounds.

Realistically, pigeons fledge at about a month old and that's just about when they'll start following their parents around. Between now and then, they'll only make noise when their parents come to feed them. I don't suppose you could post a picture?

Pidgey

[Birdmom4ever]

They will leave the nest when they are between 4-5 weeks old. Perhaps you can get some earplugs until they are gone, and then make your window ledge inhospitable to pigeons so it doesn't happen again.

[pdpbison]

Hmmmm...for me also, life would not seem at all complete without the intreludes of background sounds of peeping, wheaking, squeaking...and the perpetually various sounds of Wings in here.

Maybe some ear-plugs?

To me these sounds are lovely, musical/lyrical, tender, Life-affirming and sweet...

Maybe see if you can hear them in their own terms?

You could grow to like them!


Phil
las vegas

[feralpigeon]

Hi ElleMichele,

Thanks for your initial impulse to support life. I'm sorry it's being a drag for you,
but it shouldn't be long before these babies are off and flying on their own. In the meantime, at least they aren' t making noise @ night, and as stated, usually just @ feeding time. Perhaps some "white noise" is the way to go, or whatever your favorite music is, put on in the background.

I recently had to talk quite a number of people into letting some nesting pigeons remain on a ledge until a baby was grown. It wasn't a problem noise wise unless feeding time. The window to the ledge in the lightwell almost became a science class for tenants and staff alike. Quite a drama, because we also had painters making their way around the corner of the building. We did have to give it a little encouragement to leave it's nest spot, but all went well and the bird made it to the front of the building where a new life was waiting.

In the grand scheme of things, if you can think of it as a temporary inconvenience that you will be able to prevent in the future once the squab is gone, it will help.

Hope things work out well,

fp