Hello from Bangkok!

Greetings! I am an American living in Bangkok with my Thai wife. I was pointed to this website after I'd been posting on another pigeon board.

Sixteen months ago, a pigeon couple, whom we namd Big Pidgee and Little Pidgee, moved into and laid eggs in a flower pot on our sixth-floor balcony while we were upcountry. We allowed them to stay, eventually providing them with a roomier flower box and fresh water.

I began chroncling them here. (That's not the other pigeon board.) I still keep that thread up, too. It covers the entire 16 months to date.

Big and Little Pidgee seemed to enjoy living on our balcony. We live in a lush tropical neighborhood where food was easy for them to find, but we left water out for them, which they seemed to appreciate. They laid several batches of eggs that I kept a photo record of. You can see them in the links below; click on individual photos to enlarge:

First batch.

Second batch.

Third batch.

Fourth batch.

Fifth batch.

Sixth batch. This batch went a little wrong. For the first time, only one egg hatched, little George.

And then real tragedy struck. Little Pidgee laid two eggs this past July, but before they could hatch, Big Pidgee suddenly disappeared. We don't know what happened to him, but we're sure he must be dead. He'd been industriously helping build up the nest and was always the better parent of the two, really. Our neighborhood is mostly free from predators, but it's possible a cat could have gotten him. There are no hawks or other large birds around; pigeons are the largest birds in the city. Mynah birds are the next largest.

And on top of that, only one egg hatched again. At first, we thought that might be a blessing for Little Pidgee, since she'd be doing the parenting alone. But soon she found another mate and promptly ignored little Bob. We caught the new mate pecking at Bob, too! We tried to take care of him ourselves, but we failed, and he died at age 11 days. You can see the few pictures we have of him here.

So Little Pidgee and her new mate are nesting elsewhere now. And lately, a new feral has taken up residence: Henry, aka The Dalmation. He is beautiful. I've been told he is what's called a Blue Grizzle (although there is no blue in him, only black and white).

He's an adult, but we think he may still be young. Does not seem to have a mate. We know he's a male, because he's been in some fights with other males while protecting his territory (our balcony). On the page with his photos, there are a couple shots of a beautiful white pigeon we think was a girl, based on her non-aggressiveness. Henry sort of tolerated her if she did not get too close to "his" side of the balcony. She's white with a few black spots but not nearly as many as Henry has. We think they may be siblings. We've not seen her around for a week and a half, though.

And today Henry was sitting on the edge of the balcony cooing. To someone? Or just hoping for someone to answer? Either way, we hope he finds a mate soon and brings her here. We don't know where he sleeps at night, but it's elsewhere. He did try to stay one night on the balcony, but I inadvertently ended up scaring him away even though it was dark, and he's not tried that again since.

In addition to the water, I've been sprinkling birdfood in the flower box, and he seems to enjoy eating that. eats, drinks water, eats some more, lounges around. Seems to feel at home out there.

So that's my story to date. I hope you enjoy my photos and that thread.

I have been following with great interest your balcony action in your previous posts and I’m sorry for the tragedy with Bob and his father.
New tenant is magnificent bird, hope he soon settles with new mate.

I so enjoyed reading you post, Sam.
Loved your photos.
for sharing them with us.

Your balcony pigeons are beautiful and those babies are adorable. Some with such unique coloring.


I'm so sorry to hear about the disappearance of Big Pidgee.
Such a stunning bird.
I'm sorry you lost Bob.
We will be looking forward to updates and of course .
It will be interesting to see if Henry lures a mate to your balcony.

I loved looking at the photos and reading about your balcony pigeons. Big Pidgee was a magnificent bird, I am so sorry that you lost him and Bob, but they are together now.

I look forward to reading future episodes of your chronicle.

Thanks all. The wife and I have really become pigeon lovers. Except for The Stranger, Little Pidgee's new mate; the wife can't help remembering how mean he was to poor little Bob. Me too, even though I know he was just being a pigeon.

Speaking of The Stranger, he's figured out there's food in the flower box. Came around twice this morning (Wednesday morning) -- alone, without Little Pidgee -- and was in the box eating. Ran, or flew, away like a scared rabbit when he saw he'd been caught in the act, once when the wife saw him and once when I did. When I saw him, I heard a loud "FWUMP" as he broke the sound barrier getting away. Really. A very skittish guy. Henry's out there now, but he wasn't around earlier. Feathers would have been flying if he had been.

Siam Sam wrote:

Speaking of The Stranger, he's figured out there's food in the flower box. Came around twice this morning (Wednesday morning) -- alone, without Little Pidgee -- and was in the box eating.

Ran, or flew, away like a scared rabbit when he saw he'd been caught in the act, once when the wife saw him and once when I did. When I saw him, I heard a loud "FWUMP" as he broke the sound barrier getting away. Really. A very skittish guy. Henry's out there now, but he wasn't around earlier. Feathers would have been flying if he had been.

Could be they've nested somewhere and she's at home.

It sounds like he's 100% feral and has no interaction with humans.
As he visits your balcony more often, he may become less skittish.

I sure look forward to your updates.

Sawadee ka, Siam Siam,
loved to hear about YOUR balcony pigeons. The various colours of "your" birds are really awsome and very beautiful. Sorry to hear about all these tragedies. Makes me very sad.

Btw - I have travelled to and around Thailand 8 times! I love that country and especially its culture and people....

lagoon,
Petra

Fancyfeathers wrote:

It sounds like he's 100% feral and has no interaction with humans.
As he visits your balcony more often, he may become less skittish.

Thanks all again.

We think there's a good chance The Stranger is actually Marty from the fourth batch of eggs. He'd be almost 10 months old now if it is him. The wife is certain it is. I admit it looks just like him, down to the feathered legs we call "socky feet." That would mean, of course, that Little Pidgee is mating with her son.

The Stranger is probably the one pigeon we don't want around. There was his meanness toward poor little Bob, which especially did not endear him to the wife. And then Henry beats him mercilessly if he catches him on the balcony. When Big Pidgee was around, he would fight off any challengers to his territory. Looks like Henry is doing the same now.

Siam Sam wrote:

Thanks all again.

We think there's a good chance The Stranger is actually Marty from the fourth batch of eggs. He'd be almost 10 months old now if it is him. The wife is certain it is. I admit it looks just like him, down to the feathered legs we call "socky feet." That would mean, of course, that Little Pidgee is mating with her son.

The Stranger is probably the one pigeon we don't want around. There was his meanness toward poor little Bob, which especially did not endear him to the wife. And then Henry beats him mercilessly if he catches him on the balcony. When Big Pidgee was around, he would fight off any challengers to his territory. Looks like Henry is doing the same now.

I think that happens more often then we think. And would be fine except for the mean streak The Stranger seems to have.

In addition to our Mikko having his original mate, Pij'ette, he has also chosen his daughter, Samantha as a mate. He keeps pretty busy tending to two nests that occupy wooden eggs.

This is one of my favorite photos.
Mikko seems to be caught in a very uncomfortable position. Right between Mom (who has her back to the camera) and daughter, Sam.

Siam Sam wrote:

Fancyfeathers wrote:

It sounds like he's 100% feral and has no interaction with humans.
As he visits your balcony more often, he may become less skittish.

Thanks all again.

We think there's a good chance The Stranger is actually Marty from the fourth batch of eggs. He'd be almost 10 months old now if it is him. The wife is certain it is. I admit it looks just like him, down to the feathered legs we call "socky feet." That would mean, of course, that Little Pidgee is mating with her son.

The Stranger is probably the one pigeon we don't want around. There was his meanness toward poor little Bob, which especially did not endear him to the wife. And then Henry beats him mercilessly if he catches him on the balcony. When Big Pidgee was around, he would fight off any challengers to his territory. Looks like Henry is doing the same now.

You know...they most often calm down with age and become less agressive/mean.

Matilda wrote:

You know...they most often calm down with age and become less agressive/mean.

Hope so! I suspect he just being a pigeon, though. I mean he probably wanted the box for himself and viewed Bob as nothing more than a threat. Even Little Pidgee stepped on Bob when she was ignoring him! Poor little guy.

But I think the balcony has definitely gone to Henry. He's out there now, lounging around to lay claim to his turf. Two other pigeons came by yesterday, and he had a fit. One looked like Holly from one of our later batches. Couldn't get a good look at the other before they flew away in the face of Henry's anger dance.

Siam Sam wrote:

Matilda wrote:

You know...they most often calm down with age and become less agressive/mean.

Hope so! I suspect he just being a pigeon, though. I mean he probably wanted the box for himself and viewed Bob as nothing more than a threat. Even Little Pidgee stepped on Bob when she was ignoring him! Poor little guy.

But I think the balcony has definitely gone to Henry. He's out there now, lounging around to lay claim to his turf. Two other pigeons came by yesterday, and he had a fit. One looked like Holly from one of our later batches. Couldn't get a good look at the other before they flew away in the face of Henry's anger dance.

It sounds like it.
Has he made any more attempts at staying for the night?

Fancyfeathers wrote:

Has he made any more attempts at staying for the night?

No. The latest he stays is 5pm. (It gets dark here about 6:30 now.) Always comes back about 8am.

Love the tales of your balcony residents and visitors.

It is sad that Big Pidgee disappeared. That happened to me, with my first resident male feral, which prompted me that I haven't put my own balcony stories up yet, old and more recent.

Guess Henry is doing daytime guard on the balcony for the time when he brings a mate home

Capuccino wrote:

Guess Henry is doing daytime guard on the balcony for the time when he brings a mate home

Thanks. I hope so!

Say, how can I turn off the e-mail notifications every time I get a reply in a thread? I've gone into Preferences and clicked No on everything that looks pertinent, but still I get an e-mail message every time.

Siam Sam wrote:

Say, how can I turn off the e-mail notifications every time I get a reply in a thread?

I've gone into Preferences and clicked No on everything that looks pertinent, but still I get an e-mail message every time.

Scroll down to the bottom of the page of the thread. You should see this 'Stop watching this topic'. Just click on that.

If you are getting notification from other threads as well, I believe you need to repeat the process.

If that doesn't work, let us know.

Thanks. Just did that.

So, I'll have to do that for every thread?

Ah, no. I see now. This thread must have been set like that because I started it. I just posted in another one, and it did not turn to having me watch it for replies.

Siam Sam wrote:

Thanks. Just did that.

So, I'll have to do that for every thread?

I don't know if it's that way in every thread or just the ones posted in.
Are you receiving notification from threads you haven't posted in?

I believe I had to activate the option 'Start watching this topic'. I don't think it was automatic.

What you might do, if you receive any more notices, is go in to those particular threads and change the option rather than taking the time to go through each and every thread.

Fancyfeathers wrote:

I believe I had to activate the option 'Start watching this topic'. I don't think it was automatic.

Is it automatic for threads you start? That may be what did it, but now that I've changed my Preferences, perhaps it won't again.

In other news, it's Sunday morning, and Henry's out there preening after eating a big buffet breakfast we laid out for him. He chased a pigeon away, too. Too quick to see for sure, but it may have been George, the last of the squabs who lived.

The birdfood selection is limited here, but the pigeons seem to go crazy for the canary and finch seed I put out. Tried cockatoo/parrot food, which seems to be the same but with corn and sunflower seeds mixed in. The pigeons' bills don't seem made for the sunflower seeds.

Well, I bet they are really happy to get 'proper food' instead of foraging for scraps all the time. My lot here, when I was feeding them every day (or sometimes twice a day) got pretty picky because of the supply of good quality racing pigeon mix. It's availability is, I guess, something I and they tended to take for granted.

I can just picture Henry, feeding his face then strutting around saying "This is all mine - I am da man!"

Siam Sam wrote:

The birdfood selection is limited here, but the pigeons seem to go crazy for the canary and finch seed I put out. Tried cockatoo/parrot food, which seems to be the same but with corn and sunflower seeds mixed in.

The pigeons' bills don't seem made for the sunflower seeds.

You're exactly right, if you're referring to the sunflower seeds in the shell.

If you think they may want a little variety, you could try offering them some dried split peas, lentils or even barley with with their canary and finch seeds. Some like them, some don't.

Fancyfeathers wrote:

You're exactly right, if you're referring to the sunflower seeds in the shell.

If you think they may want a little variety, you could try offering them some dried split peas, lentils or even barley with with their canary and finch seeds. Some like them, some don't.

Cindy, even our youngsters are gobbling the dried peas in a whole and dried corn is not a problem either - what does this tell you?? :eek: I really sometimes wonder how they manage that. It somehow reminds me of egg snakes. It also shows where they were coming from - evolution wise - the reptiles are in their genes -

Siam Siam, you might try small black shelled sunflower seeds - if you get them in Bangkok - these are absolutely no problem for them to swallow. And if you could get sunflower hearts - I am sure they would die for them....

Did you try to order bird/pigeon food through the internet?

pigeonwriter wrote:

Fancyfeathers wrote:

You're exactly right, if you're referring to the sunflower seeds in the shell.

If you think they may want a little variety, you could try offering them some dried split peas, lentils or even barley with with their canary and finch seeds. Some like them, some don't.

* Cindy, even our youngsters are gobbling the dried peas in a whole and dried corn is not a problem either - what does this tell you??

** I really sometimes wonder how they manage that.

* Split peas always comes to mind as I buy bags of them.

** Our little Ivory Ring Neck dove loves Canada peas. And they are pretty big for such a little mouth.
I do pick out the real large ones. It just makes me nervous, fearing he would get one caught in his throat. He still gets the little ones though.

pigeonwriter wrote:

Siam Siam, you might try small black shelled sunflower seeds - if you get them in Bangkok - these are absolutely no problem for them to swallow. And if you could get sunflower hearts - I am sure they would die for them....

Did you try to order bird/pigeon food through the internet?

Thanks. No, there are a few Western grocery stores here that carry birdfood, although I've not found "pigeon food" per se. Dove food and canary and finch food I have found, and those seem to do the trick. (The Thais don't even distinguish between pigeons and doves, using the same word for both. Same with lemons and limes.)

Good news! Henry slept here last night (Monday night)! This was his second attempt. Last time, I ended up frightening him away when I tried to change his water. Despite it being dark and late at night, he flew away to "safety." This time, I didn't try to go out.

The wife didn't come home until after dark, so Henry must have figured the place would be empty all night. But he still kept a wary eye on us. He must have been really surprised when the wife made her entrance. Then I come home, and he must have been thinking: "Oh no! There's the other one, too! I'm trapped!"

When it came time for us to go to bed, and I needed to close the curtains, he started getting very nervous. We have to close the curtains here, or else the tropical sun comes blazing in in the morning. So I turned off all the lights and then moved in to close them. That worked! He didn't seem to notice anything.

First thing this morning, he was cooing. But he doesn't seem to have a mate. Was he advertising himself?