Volume 45, Number 2, December 1998:
Feral Pigeons

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ABOUT THIS ISSUE
- about KSN
- about the author

IN THIS ISSUE
- introduction
- origin of feral pigeons
- basic plumages
- mate choice and plumages
- advantages of different plumages
- advantages of choosing different mates
- breeding seasons
- reproducative data
- brood reduction
- living in colonies
- commuter pigeons
- relationships with people
- reference

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Updated: March 9, 2005
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Feral Pigeons
by Richard F. Johnston

REPRODUCTIVE DATA

Clutch size in feral pigeons is two eggs, which is unchanged from that of rock doves. Parents continuously incubate eggs for about 18 days, females from late afternoon to mid-morning, males from mid-morning to late afternoon. Hatching rate is variable, from 44 percent to 95 percent, averaging perhaps 70 percent.

Squabs initially are fed "crop milk," a cheese-like substance secreted by crops of both sexes, high in proteins and fats, on which the young birds grow rapidly. A crop is a food storage area in the throat of birds. Parents begin feeding a few seeds with the milk at about day 4, and by day 8 or 10, the squabs are almost wholly on seeds. Squabs are ready to leave the nest at day 30, and most are gone by day 35. Parents will have produced another pair of eggs at perhaps day 20, overlapping the first squabs with their second clutch of eggs - "clutch overlap." Males assume the greater share of feeding the squabs at this time. Squabs gradually become responsible for their own maintenance beyond day 30. About 55 percent of all eggs result in fledged young, ranging from 24 percent to 79 percent in different populations over different years.