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Pigeons
& Doves
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Male pigeons have the rare ability to lactate, producing
milk for the babies just like the females do.
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A grown pigeon has nearly 10,000 feathers.
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Unless forcibly separated, pigeons mate for life.
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A grown pigeon has nearly 10,000 feathers.
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Racing Pigeons routinely maintain flight speeds of 50
to 60 mph.
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Some pigeons reverse-commute, feeding on grain in the
country, while living in the city.
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Pigeons mate for life and rear their broods together, although if one
dies the other will take a new mate. Once the simple nest is built,
the female lays an egg and then another a day or so later. The incubation
period for common pigeons is 17 to 19 days. The female sits on the
egg from late afternoon through the night until about 10AM. The male
then takes over and does the day shift. Once the eggs hatch, both
parents feed the young squabs. The first food is pigeon milk or crop
milk, a cheesy substance that appears in the crops of the parents
at hatching time and is fed for a week or so. Then the adults start
regurgitating partially digested grains for the young. By the time
the squabs are ready to fly, about 4 weeks, the father is doing most
of the feeding. The squabs are fed for another week to 10 days after
they are free-flying. |
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| Bird rescue & bird adoption;
parrot refuge/rescue & placement for unwanted birds. |
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| Check out our list of local
birds broken down by your state and different types of
species. |
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| Migrating birds stay on track
because of chemical reactions in their bodies that are
influenced by the Earth's magnetic field... |
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Part
I
November
19, 2004