Hello from Bangkok!

Hope Little Pidgee is doing fine. Feel bad for her...looks like after Big Pidgee, she doesn't have a proper mate Hope she and Henry get along...

It sounds like you have the feeding routine down just right, Sam.

priya wrote:

Hope Little Pidgee is doing fine. Feel bad for her...looks like after Big Pidgee, she doesn't have a proper mate Hope she and Henry get along...

You're probably right on, Priya.
They are so human like in many ways and not being able to find a compatible mate after loosing one is another similarity.

I do hope though Little Pidgee does find another wonderful pij to share the rest of her life with.

Thanks for the Little Pidgee sympathy. We feel sorry for the poor girl, too. For whatever reason, things with Henry definitely have not worked out. She'll show up alone from time to time now, and that's about it.

Worse, a couple of the pigeons coming around are very aggressive, and they'll bully her mercilessly until she flees. She seems a little shaky most of the time and grateful for the food we put out when we see her. But we have to stand by to shoo away other pidgees that see it and come try to chase her away.

Worse still, the most aggressive one is Katie, who turned out to be a male and is her son! About 13 months old now. He fought with Big Pidgee, his father, last year, fights with Henry now until we shoo him away. Very mean to his mother, too. You can see him here. Whenever we have to shoo away another pidgee, Little Pidgee and Henry both seem to understand we're on their side and trying to protect them.

Otherwise, things are about the same. Henry comes by and coos shortly after dawn. Then he'll look hopefully for his snack later in the morning when he senses we're up and about, then again in the afternoon if we're home. The Girl, his great unrequited love, still stops by occasionally, still spurning his advances.

Hi Sam,
We so appreciate and enjoy your updates.

On occasion I have had to stand 'watch' while a couple of the more timid, and obviously young, ferals got their share of the seeds.

Katie is a very good looking pij. Hopefully he will out grow his mean streak.

Wishing you and your wife the best of 2010.

That would be nice, but Katie's not showing any signs of growing out of it. The photo I linked to is a year old. He's 13 months old now and has shown aggressive tendencies the whole time. Used to fight with Big Pidgee way back when, and I mean massive combat. (He looks a lot like his father.)

We've had a bad pidgee day today (Monday). No sign of Henry at all for some reason, and Little Pidgee had hopped up onto the rail that guides the sliding glass door to peer in and beg for food. So I put some out. Suddenly we had five pigeons, and they chased Little Pidgee away. I tried to shoo them away, but I finally gave up. Eventually they all left, and Little P was left to look around. No other pidgees in sight, so I poured a little more out. Next thing I know, Katie is here and has chased Mama away.

This went on a total of three times. She's out there now, I poured a little for a fourth time. Hopefully she can eat in peace now.

If Henry were here, he'd keep the others away. He knows this is snack time and is usually begging about now too.

Oops! Spoke too soon. Other pidgees have arrived to chase Little P away. Henry, where are you??

It sounds like you have a few birdie brats.

We had a bit of a scare. Henry disappeared for a couple of days. He was last seen late Sunday afternoon, when he came by for a snack just before dark. We gave it to him, then he left. Then he was not seen again. Just when I thought he must have gone the way of Big Pidgee, the wife came home late yesterday afternoon (Tuesday afternoon), and there was Henry, begging for a snack. He was out there this morning, too. Went somewhere for the holidays maybe? Except he missed them by a couple of days.

Still leaves the green seeds, eating them only if he's still hungry and that's all that's left. My understanding is pigeons cannot see colors, but the green ones are noticeably darker than the others. I wonder what it is about them. The other pigeons treat them the same way. This is a birdseed mix that's labelled "dove food."

hi Sam,
Sometimes those guys can really put the fright into us being gone for even two or three days.
I'm glad to hear Henry is safe and sound.

Are the green ones peas?

I don't think they're peas, or made from peas. They're definitely birdseed size, like the others. The ingredients on the package are listed as: Yellow millet, red millet, black millet, vitamins and minerals."

The wife and I will be in Vietnam for most of April. I wonder if Henry will give up and start hanging out elsewhere while we're gone. Would be sad not to see him anymore. He's so pretty.

If there is no activity on your balcony for any length of time, Henry will go elsewhere in search of food.
I'm sure (I hope) he will keep an eye open for your return.

Do you have a neighbor or friend that could put seed out while you are away?

Matilda wrote:

Do you have a neighbor or forend that could put seed out while you are away?

We would probably be run out of here on a rail if the neighbors ever learned we were feeding the pigeons. One of the wife's sisters will stop by once or twice a week to water the plants, so she might be able to. But there's no guarantee Henry will be the one who gets it.

There's a guy in South Africa on another pigeon board who is away for weeks at a time, and his balcony pigeons seem just to settle in more while he's away. But that's a family, with a nest and eggs. Hopefully, no matter what happens, Henry will still keep an eye out, same as we're still getting occasional visits from squabs that left months ago.

And I just had some ignorance fought. Read that pigeons can indeed see color.

Well we will all hope for the best regarding the Pigeons finding food and you and your wife having a wonderful vacation.

Thanks!

And the wife now informs me her sister will move outside of Bangkok soon, so there's not going to be anyone to come in and water the plants even. Just have to hope Henry stays in the neighborhood. Fortunately, as mentioned before, the mansion grounds next door maintains a bunch of bird life, so I think chances are good he'll remain in the area.

Our building held it's annual meeting yesterday (Saturday), and afterward, while the unit owners were standing around chatting informally among themselves and with the office staff, some others on the lower floors mentioned there sure were a lot of pigeons around. The wife was like: "Uh, pigeons, yeah. Yeah, uh, we have to clean our balcony every week too, those darn pigeons."

So we definitely want to keep the scrum down if we can. Now we're doling out a little food at a time for Henry or Little Pidgee and only if no other pigeons are around. Henry will chase the others away anyway, but no sense encouraging them. He's a true gentleman with Little Pidgee, though. Lets her eat and does not chase her away. They don't mate anymore, though. I wonder what the problem was.

I don't know if pigeons will mate if they aren't getting enough food. So if the supply around your place is scant, they might be holding off on raising a family.

Appreciate the update, Sam.
I hope everything goes well with Henry and Little Pidgee whether they become a true mated pair or remain 'friends'.

We've removed the empty flower box for now. The female Pretty One and a new one that resembles Little Pidgee were getting frisky out on the balcony and also showing signs of being inerested in the box. I'm afraid that's going to be trouble, as Henry chases them away whenever he sees them. Plus now the wife is a bit skittish after hearing the pigeon remarls last weekend from other residents.

If anyone's going to live here, we want it to be Henry. If it was with Little Pidgee, that would be a bonus. But they don't seem interested in each other in that way now. They are friends, though. He lets her in to eat without chasing her away or trying to have his way with her. We put a little food out whenever we see them out there. But if it's only Little P, we'll put food out only if no other pidgees are around, as they'll chase her away from it otherwise. Henry can always chase the others away himself.

Henry does not flee from the balcony now if he sees us coming to open the door, as he figures (hopes) it's feeding time, especially if we're holding the magic bag of food. He will move to the edge of the balcony, though.

A couple of times now, I've sat down in front of the open door holding a handful of seed stretched out, to try to persuade him to come eat out of my hand. He looks interested, but nothing doing. He won't come over until I've poured it onto the floor and closed the door. Little Pidgee, too.

Keep trying. Eventually you will win him over.

Thanks! We'll keep at it. Like water dripping on a stone.

Henry showed up yesterday with a girlfriend! A new pidgee we hadn't seen before. Resembles Little Pidgee, except she's much darker in the face and breast. That part is almost black, like Jack, but not quite. They didn't kiss, but he was preening her head. He never did that for Little Pidgee, just she to him. Plus he stood guard while she ate. Could be love! May have to put the flower box back out soon, although that other couple keeps coming around, too.

The romance sound promising.

It's about 8am here, and she's shown up. No Henry yet. Odd, but she's been cooing. I think we've only ever heard the males coo -- Big Pidgee, Henry. Do the females coo much?

EDIT: She's gone, but Henry's here now. Want to see them together again.

Siam Sam wrote:

Thanks! We'll keep at it. Like water dripping on a stone.

Henry showed up yesterday with a girlfriend! A new pidgee we hadn't seen before. Resembles Little Pidgee, except she's much darker in the face and breast. That part is almost black, like Jack, but not quite. They didn't kiss, but he was preening her head. He never did that for Little Pidgee, just she to him. Plus he stood guard while she ate. Could be love! May have to put the flower box back out soon, although that other couple keeps coming around, too.

Please keep us posted.