Pigeons. London’s over-run with them. Hobbling around, gobbling up our leftovers. But have you ever seen a baby pigeon? No, neither have we, although we’d not really thought about it until one reader, Amanda, asked where they all are.
Do pigeons hatch fully grown, like some sort of avian Benjamin Button? Freaks us out just thinking about it, if we’re honest. So we spoke to the lovely people at the RSPB (Royal Society for Protection of Birds), who reassured us that this is not the case.
According to Ben Andrews, RSPB’s Wildlife Adviser,
Young pigeons (known as “squabs”) look really different to the adult birds we see, they are yellow and fluffy, but they are always in the nest for a long period of time, often around 30 days or so. By the time they emerge from the nest they basically look like adult pigeons and therefore people don’t obviously notice them as babies even if they are still young birds.
So there’s the answer. For other, not entirely serious answers to the whereabouts of baby pigeons, click here.
Got a London question? Send your questions to hello@londonist.com with “London Question” in the subject line, and we’ll do our best to get your niggle straightened out on the site. Feel free to send any relevant pictures too. We can’t guarantee we’ll know the answer to absolutely everything you throw at us, but we’re always game for a challenge.
About Pigeon Patrol:
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor of bird deterrent (control) products in Canada. Pigeon Patrol products have solved pest bird problems in industrial, commercial, and residential settings since 2000, by using safe and humane bird deterrents with only bird and animal friendly solutions. At Pigeon Patrol, we manufacture and offer a variety of bird deterrents, ranging from Ultra-flex Bird Spikes with UV protection, Bird Netting, 4-S Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products four years in a row.
Contact Info: 1- 877– 4– NO-BIRD (www.pigeonpatrol.ca)