I had an unusual experience I’d like to share. Well perhaps it wasn’t that unusual or weird in the world of animals, but this human hadn't witnessed anything like this before so it was educational in the ways of bird social lives and dominance hierarchies.
We were working at the apartment building and hubby noticed a baby robin sitting on the outside stairs on the north side of the building and then spied another on the ground close by. Strange he thought, and then noticed two pigeons hovering around and dipping down close to the babies. He called to me to watch the birds while he went to get a small box. One of the pigeons, now sitting on the roof next door was watching me while the other swooped down to the bird on the stairs so I clapped loudly and shooed it away. Then the other soared down in a raucous furry to attack the bird on the ground and I clapped once again and they both squawked their displeasure and flew away. I stood to the side of the building watching and waiting to see if momma robin would come around and she did, swooped in and landed next to the baby on the ground. Now this wasn’t the strange part that I hinted at. I’ve rescued baby birds before and happened on nests around our property. All pleasant experiences filled with wonder and amazement for life of the little creatures around us. What I found puzzling, perhaps even on the side of disturbing, was the actions of those two pigeons.
After I scared the little terrorists off, within no less than two minutes, they returned with a dozen of their friends and they seemed in a hyper state of excitement, not unlike coyotes when they surround and kill prey. The mother robin saw the flock overhead and flew away, positioning herself in a tree close by and was calling out in a frenzied cry. Poor thing, she sees me as a threat as well as the flock of pigeons that violently disrupted their lives.
I could hardly believe my eyes. Those pigeons went off for reinforcements to come back to gang up and attack the baby birds! I mean really, they had to communicate their intent. That takes a certain level of intelligence and communication. What did they say to one another? “Hey guys, we found two baby birds to torture and kill. Let’s go!” I still find it hard to believe really, it was so evident they were on a mission to destroy the babies. They took the nest apart, it was shredded and hanging down from the rafters above. I’m not sure if the babies were pushed from the nest in the frenzy or they flew away to escape the danger. They were fairly developed and one actually flew/hopped away from my grasp a couple of times before I caught it so I could tell they were soon big enough to leave the nest. They probably glided to the ground three stories down and was the reason they landed without injury.
So the pigeon gang is scrutinizing me, the human spoiler between them and their fun. They all landed on the neighbour’s roof, watching me as intently as I am watching them. I played the waiting game, staying as far away as I can from the babies as not to freak out the mother, but ready to pounce if I needed to defend them from a swarm of bully’s dive bombing from the sky.
A few minutes went by, then two of the braver pigeons swooped down, each heading for one of the baby birds and I rushed forward and clapped harder and shouted loudly, waving my arms and appearing as menacing as possible. The message was clear, they needed to go through me to get to those babies and their bird brains decided it wasn’t worth the risk! They regrouped back on the roof peak, there was a bit of squawking and then they all flew away. I asked hubby why the pigeons would do this, do they eat baby birds? He said sometimes its territorial and they want to take over another bird’s nest but they had torn it apart so it was useless to them. Later I researched on the internet if Pigeons ate other birds but couldn’t find any thing on that topic. But apparently, they can be little shites, as witnessed. I didn’t realize one species of bird will destroy another species for no apparent reason. If this wasn’t territorial, what was the motive? How did they even found the nest hidden up under the rafters of the staircase is a mystery, perhaps they stalk birds and see where they go and then do a home invasion? Are they entertained by killing a baby bird? Bored and out for a little gang related violence? Perhaps there is a pecking order, pardon the pun!
So, we couldn’t leave the baby birds unattended, I figured the pigeons could be watching to see if we leave and then come back to finish whatever it was they had started. The babies were vulnerable and defenseless so we put them in what we could find, a plastic milk carton with a towel for padding, and we hung it in a nearby tree about three feet off the ground. If we took them home, momma wouldn’t have been able to find them so we hoped this was a good solution to their problem. I covered the area with Japanese Bamboo that grows close by so they were well shielded from prying eyes. They were crying out for momma and their mouths were open wide and greedy for food. I then sat without moving a muscle a safe distance away and watched to see if momma would hear their calls and came back. I’d used gloves to pick them up, worried she would abandon them with my scent all over their bodies but hubby thought perhaps that was just a myth and he felt confident she would find them and life would resume as before. If she didn’t return, I was prepared to make a trip to Hope For Wildlife.
I didn’t have long to wait. She returned with a mouthful of grubs and very cautiously made her way to the new digs. She was skittish and it took her several zigs and zags and backtracking to make her way to the edge of the carton and then inside with her babies. We hoped they were okay there for the night, it was clear, but rain was coming the day after, so we decided we’d construct a better nest so they wouldn’t be cold and laying on a soaked towel. We wanted something that would drain and be padded with dried grasses and twigs.
I checked on them in the morning and they were huddled on the towel looking up with mouths open thinking I was coming to feed them. That evening we built a new nest using a wooden Clementine box, that already had holes for drainage and he built up the sides so they wouldn’t fall out and tied it back to the tree, a little higher this time. I transferred the birds to their new home. They looked ready to leave the nest, developed feathers intact and of a decent size. I felt very maternal for them, already attached to my little wards.
That night it rained and I worried they would be wet and cold, but I know birds make nests in trees that don’t have roofs over their heads. The next morning, even before breakfast, I drove to the building and crept up quietly to peek inside the nest and was surprised and a tad disappointed to find the baby birds were gone. There was a bit of poop to indicate they had been there but they must have been more developed than I realized and maybe momma figured it was best to move along from the meddling humans who forced them to move twice in two days. Perhaps she moved them to the ground, under a bush somewhere. I don't know their fate for certain, so I'm sticking to this assumption with all my heart.
I checked around for feathers, an indication they might have been ousted out by other creatures in the night like a cat, raccoon or flying predators, but nothing indicated there had been a scuffle so I like to think my little baby birds are out there making their way in the world.
We were working at the apartment building and hubby noticed a baby robin sitting on the outside stairs on the north side of the building and then spied another on the ground close by. Strange he thought, and then noticed two pigeons hovering around and dipping down close to the babies. He called to me to watch the birds while he went to get a small box. One of the pigeons, now sitting on the roof next door was watching me while the other swooped down to the bird on the stairs so I clapped loudly and shooed it away. Then the other soared down in a raucous furry to attack the bird on the ground and I clapped once again and they both squawked their displeasure and flew away. I stood to the side of the building watching and waiting to see if momma robin would come around and she did, swooped in and landed next to the baby on the ground. Now this wasn’t the strange part that I hinted at. I’ve rescued baby birds before and happened on nests around our property. All pleasant experiences filled with wonder and amazement for life of the little creatures around us. What I found puzzling, perhaps even on the side of disturbing, was the actions of those two pigeons.
After I scared the little terrorists off, within no less than two minutes, they returned with a dozen of their friends and they seemed in a hyper state of excitement, not unlike coyotes when they surround and kill prey. The mother robin saw the flock overhead and flew away, positioning herself in a tree close by and was calling out in a frenzied cry. Poor thing, she sees me as a threat as well as the flock of pigeons that violently disrupted their lives.
I could hardly believe my eyes. Those pigeons went off for reinforcements to come back to gang up and attack the baby birds! I mean really, they had to communicate their intent. That takes a certain level of intelligence and communication. What did they say to one another? “Hey guys, we found two baby birds to torture and kill. Let’s go!” I still find it hard to believe really, it was so evident they were on a mission to destroy the babies. They took the nest apart, it was shredded and hanging down from the rafters above. I’m not sure if the babies were pushed from the nest in the frenzy or they flew away to escape the danger. They were fairly developed and one actually flew/hopped away from my grasp a couple of times before I caught it so I could tell they were soon big enough to leave the nest. They probably glided to the ground three stories down and was the reason they landed without injury.
So the pigeon gang is scrutinizing me, the human spoiler between them and their fun. They all landed on the neighbour’s roof, watching me as intently as I am watching them. I played the waiting game, staying as far away as I can from the babies as not to freak out the mother, but ready to pounce if I needed to defend them from a swarm of bully’s dive bombing from the sky.
A few minutes went by, then two of the braver pigeons swooped down, each heading for one of the baby birds and I rushed forward and clapped harder and shouted loudly, waving my arms and appearing as menacing as possible. The message was clear, they needed to go through me to get to those babies and their bird brains decided it wasn’t worth the risk! They regrouped back on the roof peak, there was a bit of squawking and then they all flew away. I asked hubby why the pigeons would do this, do they eat baby birds? He said sometimes its territorial and they want to take over another bird’s nest but they had torn it apart so it was useless to them. Later I researched on the internet if Pigeons ate other birds but couldn’t find any thing on that topic. But apparently, they can be little shites, as witnessed. I didn’t realize one species of bird will destroy another species for no apparent reason. If this wasn’t territorial, what was the motive? How did they even found the nest hidden up under the rafters of the staircase is a mystery, perhaps they stalk birds and see where they go and then do a home invasion? Are they entertained by killing a baby bird? Bored and out for a little gang related violence? Perhaps there is a pecking order, pardon the pun!
So, we couldn’t leave the baby birds unattended, I figured the pigeons could be watching to see if we leave and then come back to finish whatever it was they had started. The babies were vulnerable and defenseless so we put them in what we could find, a plastic milk carton with a towel for padding, and we hung it in a nearby tree about three feet off the ground. If we took them home, momma wouldn’t have been able to find them so we hoped this was a good solution to their problem. I covered the area with Japanese Bamboo that grows close by so they were well shielded from prying eyes. They were crying out for momma and their mouths were open wide and greedy for food. I then sat without moving a muscle a safe distance away and watched to see if momma would hear their calls and came back. I’d used gloves to pick them up, worried she would abandon them with my scent all over their bodies but hubby thought perhaps that was just a myth and he felt confident she would find them and life would resume as before. If she didn’t return, I was prepared to make a trip to Hope For Wildlife.
I didn’t have long to wait. She returned with a mouthful of grubs and very cautiously made her way to the new digs. She was skittish and it took her several zigs and zags and backtracking to make her way to the edge of the carton and then inside with her babies. We hoped they were okay there for the night, it was clear, but rain was coming the day after, so we decided we’d construct a better nest so they wouldn’t be cold and laying on a soaked towel. We wanted something that would drain and be padded with dried grasses and twigs.
I checked on them in the morning and they were huddled on the towel looking up with mouths open thinking I was coming to feed them. That evening we built a new nest using a wooden Clementine box, that already had holes for drainage and he built up the sides so they wouldn’t fall out and tied it back to the tree, a little higher this time. I transferred the birds to their new home. They looked ready to leave the nest, developed feathers intact and of a decent size. I felt very maternal for them, already attached to my little wards.
That night it rained and I worried they would be wet and cold, but I know birds make nests in trees that don’t have roofs over their heads. The next morning, even before breakfast, I drove to the building and crept up quietly to peek inside the nest and was surprised and a tad disappointed to find the baby birds were gone. There was a bit of poop to indicate they had been there but they must have been more developed than I realized and maybe momma figured it was best to move along from the meddling humans who forced them to move twice in two days. Perhaps she moved them to the ground, under a bush somewhere. I don't know their fate for certain, so I'm sticking to this assumption with all my heart.
I checked around for feathers, an indication they might have been ousted out by other creatures in the night like a cat, raccoon or flying predators, but nothing indicated there had been a scuffle so I like to think my little baby birds are out there making their way in the world.
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