Pigeons and their little chicks: what the cubs look like photo

The pigeon is considered one of the most common birds today. Belongs to the pigeon family. Its original homeland is considered to be Southern Europe and northern Africa.

Man tamed the first dove in ancient times. Gradually, together with humans, these birds traveled all over the world, some of them scattered and became wild, some remained to live in cities near people.

Wild birds prefer live in a rocky area – in mountain gorges and on rocks, sometimes near steep river banks. Being descendants of domestic pigeons, they are not afraid of being next to a person. On the contrary, they look for agricultural land and settle closer to it.

City pigeons find similarities in stone city buildings with their natural habitat – rocks. Various food waste provides pigeons with food at any time of the year. People who feed the birds provide them with even more comfortable living in the city.

Wild and urban individuals continue to interbreed with each other. And according to scientists, sooner or later this will lead to the complete extinction of wild individuals. This should lead to an increase in the overall population of pigeons, because wild birds live up to 5 years, and domestic ones up to 15, sometimes up to 35.

Appearance

body length about 30 cm, weight rather big – about 400 g. The plumage is very dense, which allows them to survive in frosts. In wild birds, light gray plumage with a greenish tint predominates. A distinctive feature is two dark stripes on each wing. The plumage of urban birds is very diverse and has up to 30 shades. The bird can look completely different: there are both boiling white and purple-black. There is a small area of ​​bald skin around the eye. The beak is black, with a white cere at the base. The legs can also have a different color: from pink to black, in some birds they are partially covered with feathers. The wings are wide and pointed, with a span of up to 70 cm.

Sexual dimorphism is not expressed. In females, only slightly less noticeable metallic sheen. Young birds of both sexes are identical up to 8 months, then the males acquire a slightly noticeable gloss.

Pigeons are very capable birds.

• These birds have surprisingly remarkable eyesight. They see all the colors of the rainbow and even ultraviolet rays. Rescuers actively used their abilities. Pigeons have carried out a number of successful operations to search for drowning people wearing life jackets on the high seas. Before searching, the pigeons were taught to give a signal if they notice something orange.
• The ability of pigeons to find their way home from anywhere in the world is world famous. People have long known about this and actively used birds for postal communication. It is amazing that such small birds can fly about 1000 km per day.
• Pigeons have sensitive hearing. They hear things that our ears can’t. For example, the sound of an approaching thunderstorm or gusts of wind. That is why the birds leave the territory in a timely manner for no reason visible to us.
• Ornithologists have given pigeons the status of intelligent birds after finding that they remember their past actions with a delay of up to 7 seconds.

Reproduction

All representatives of the pigeon family are monogamous. Finding a mate pigeons live together all their lives.

Before mating, the male performs a whole ritual:

• flaunts in front of the female for a long time, attracting her attention;
• he does not leave his object of adoration for a second;
• cooing loudly and persistently;
• inflates the neck;
• spreads its wings;
• his signature technique is a vertical stance with a tail spread like a fan.

If the female has accepted courtship, the birds “kiss”, cleaning each other with their beaks.

Both wild and city pigeons nest in secluded places inaccessible to predators. Under natural conditions, they prefer caves or crevices. In the city they settle in beams under bridges and in attics.

What does a pigeon chick look like

You can see the cubs only in the photo. So reliably doves hide their shelter from prying eyes. When making a nest, segregation of duties: the male brings the material, and the female lays it down.

There can be up to 8 clutches per year, consisting of only 1-2 eggs. Even male and female incubate alternately. Cubs appear in 15-20 days. A small dove weighs up to 10 grams. The last born very often dies, since he can receive feeding only after 12-16 hours. On the day of birth, the chicks are completely bald, then they are overgrown with a thin fluff. Babies really need care and warmth. They are so defenseless! Mother and father never leave them alone for a second. Blind, covered with sparse yellow fluff, small pigeons feed on belching from the goiter of their parents. It happens that the chicks have not yet grown up, and the female is already laying the next clutch. Then father educates the younger generation, and the mother incubates the next chicks.

Chicks grow surprisingly fast. Already on the second day of life, they are 8 times heavier, by the 20th day they double their current weight. Then the weight gain goes on evenly, the little dove only grows stronger, preparing for the flight. Chicks learn to fly after a month of life. After two months, the pigeon cub weighs as much as adults, and puberty occurs in six months.

Pigeons and their offspring