Our balcony is now home sweet home to a pair of pigeons, who have built a little nest in a recess in the wall, and laid three eggs. Having never seen a baby pigeon before, we searched for some pictures online, expecting to see a cute fluffy little chick. It turns out baby pigeons aren’t like baby ducks or baby chickens.
At all.
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| Our resident Mummy Pigeon |
But I’m sure Mummy pigeon will love them just the same...
In looking for pictures online we realised we didn't know much about pigeons at all. For example, did you know that the word ‘pigeon’ is actually derived from the Latin word ‘pipio’ which meant ‘young bird’. The word then passed into Old French as ‘pijon’ and so the English name ‘pigeon’ was derived, and is now used the world over as a common name for the Rock Dove.
Some other pigeon trivia -
- Most of our domesticated pigeons have a common ancestor, the Rock Dove pigeon.
- Unless separated, pigeons mate for life. Awww.
- They have been known to live over 30 years.
- The ability to hear sounds 11 octaves below middle C allows the pigeons to detect earthquakes and electrical storms.
- Young dependant pigeons are commonly known as ‘squabs’.
It takes 2-3 weeks for a pigeon egg to hatch, and another month or so before the baby can fly the nest, so we’ll report back with updates over the coming days.
We always wanted an office pet...
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