Nine Babies

[Fever]

There is construction going on in my building, including tearing down part of the balcony where the ferals live. The worker guys said it was ok if I went up to save the babies if I could catch them, before it comes down. As long as I have lived side by side with these birds, I have never entered their territory... I have sealed off the window and door that join to it, to keep bird mites out. It has worked well for all parties involved until today.

I had to climb up a ladder to the second floor to get in. This is a covered balcony that's only open on one end, so it's almost more like a tunnel. When I got to the back, I was surprised to see there is a small staircase leading down to kind of a crawlspace... pigeon paradise or what?

The sad thing is that I had to capture as many babies as I could, and there were a lot! I was able to catch nine in total, but two or three hid under some old doors, and moving them stirred up so much dust. (You'll probably laugh at this, but it felt almost like sacred grounds where they hid as well... a lot of bones of long gone birds, all in the same place.)

There were seven or eight nests of eggs that I saw, and one had three eggs. I wonder if three were laid, or if one pair stole an egg from another. There really isn't much I can do about the eggs, but most of the babies are safe and on their way to the bird sanctuary (where I've verified that they accept pigeons without euthanizing).

I'll post pictures when I get a chance.

[Maggie-NC]

Fever, God bless you for rescuing those nine babies. Is there a chance you can get the ones that went into hiding? Do you think the construction workers would help you get them out?

We faced a similar situation about two years ago with close to 50 being taken from an attic. We also took all the eggs and placed them under our pigeons and all but two hatched. The construction people were standing by to seal off all entrances after the exterminator took all the birds and eggs out. There was a large number of starlings in there too.

As long as there is an entrance where "your" pigeons can go in, they will continue to do so. Ideally, if all birds and eggs could be removed and the entrances sealed off immediately, there is less of a risk of the parents getting back in there and being hurt.

[maryjane]

Thanks for saving these babies, Fever. It really does sound like a sacred pigeon burial ground.

[Charis]

Fever...could you PM me the sanctuary you took them to and the address and phone number? I'm working on additional resource list.

[Noisy_minor]

haha sacred burial grounds i had this picture in my head of all pigeon paintings on the walls and bones and stuff hmm think im crazy. anyway good work maybe you should let who ever is in charge of the construction crew to give you a ring if they find any more or if any more hatch.

[Fever]

The bird rescue I took them to is called the Wild Bird Care Centre:

http://www.wildbirdcarecentre.org/

I am very glad I took them there. I met the lady who founded it, and all the staff there were friendly and took excellent care of the birds. They were a bit surprised to see nine come in, but told me they had received over eighty birds once, when a sudden change in weather caused a flock to abandon their young. I got a tour of the building and got to meet other pigeons, crows, starlings, falcons and owls... even a chicken and a pair of ringneck doves. I was afraid (before getting there) that they might treat pigeons as second class citizens, but that wasn't the case at all. Also, they said the babies I brought in seemed healthy and well-fed, and most likely they will all be released once they're old enough.

I still don't know what to do with the eggs. I will definitely keep an eye on the construction site (just finished up classes, so I have a lot of free time!), and see if I can catch the other babies, or see if the eggs hatch. None of the nine were very young (all had dark feathers and could walk), but that will change if the next round hatches. As more of the wall and balcony comes down, who knows what I'll find... but I promise to keep an eye out for the birds.