A pigeon has been sitting on my balcony for hours. Should I be concerned?
October 22, 2011 7:35 PM   Subscribe

A pigeon has been sitting on my balcony for hours. Should I be concerned?

I don't particularly mind the pigeon, but I am worried that it's going to keel over. It doesn't look injured; it's moved around a bit over the course of the day. I don't really want to go out there and disturb it, especially if there's nothing wrong with it. It just seems strange that a pigeon would want to sit in the same place for 5 hours - especially now that it's turned to night. Does anyone know what might be going on with this little guy? Should I do something?
posted by thebots to Pets & Animals (11 answers total) 7 users marked this as a favorite
 
Leave it be.
posted by HuronBob at 7:44 PM on October 22, 2011 [1 favorite]


Seconding HuronBob. I love this question.
posted by Nightman at 7:47 PM on October 22, 2011


There might be something wrong with it, but there's not really anything you're going to be able to do about that. Leave it there. Birds get by without us just fine. It knows what it's doing.
posted by Gilbert at 7:49 PM on October 22, 2011


Response by poster: Haha, okay! I figured as much but I just found it so strange. Maybe I'm just not used to these undaunted city birds yet. Thanks everyone!
posted by thebots at 8:05 PM on October 22, 2011


Depending where you live, maybe the weather's cold, and there's a bit of a warm draft on the balcony? They'll hang around for that.
posted by zadcat at 8:18 PM on October 22, 2011


It just seems strange that a pigeon would want to sit in the same place for 5 hours - especially now that it's turned to night.

Some birds sleep standing up (and some with one eye open!). It's probably catching some zees.
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 8:21 PM on October 22, 2011


Response by poster: Ask it if, within a distant Aidenn, you may clasp a sainted maiden, whom the angels name Lenore.

Well now he's just pissed that I reminded him he's not an awesome raven.
posted by thebots at 8:25 PM on October 22, 2011 [2 favorites]


Best answer: It sucks when pigeons decide to take up roost on your porch. They poop all over everything, drop nasty disease feathers on stuff, coo in a really spooky Hitchcock way, and when they decide to nest and lay eggs, they will dive-bomb your head to protect their home. Take it from someone who's been there: you don't want this.

If I were you, I'd make loud banging noises to scare him away. Don't let your balcony seem like an inviting place. This guy could be a scout.
posted by phunniemee at 9:00 PM on October 22, 2011 [9 favorites]


I used to live in a flat above a shop that had a flat roof that I'd have to walk alongside to get out of the place. A couple of times I'd leave for work and notice a pigeon standing quietly on its own in a corner. The first one was there for a couple of days and not moving—it was still alive as I walked slowly up to it to check it out. On the third day I left for work and noticed it had died overnight. On returning from work, the body was still there but the head was missing. The second bird died a day after I first saw it and, again, the first thing to disappear was its head. If it's there to die, it'll probably stay where it is and not fly off. It'll just be still even if you get up close to it.

At the end of the day it's a wild pigeon and there's probably nothing you can (should?) do to save it if it's on its way out—it's not like there aren't millions of them around the world. With my headless birds (and it must've been other birds who came down to completely remove the heads as nothing else could've got up there), I used a broom to push the body into a spare cardboard box and then put it in the dustbin.
posted by TheDonF at 11:18 PM on October 22, 2011


After living in the city for enough years, I don't let birds hang out on my apartment's ledges for more than a minute. Plenty of other places for them to be where I don't have to deal with their poo. Like phunnimee says, a few loud noises should be enough to make them agree with you.

If you need to convince a raccoon that your planter on the fire escape isn't a good place to settle down for the winter, it takes a bit more. But I've got suggestions for that too, if needed.
posted by benito.strauss at 8:04 AM on October 23, 2011


On returning from work, the body was still there but the head was missing. The second bird died a day after I first saw it and, again, the first thing to disappear was its head...
...With my headless birds (and it must've been other birds who came down to completely remove the heads as nothing else could've got up there)...


There can be only one!

I couldn't help it. ^_^

If you notice it is leaving residue, then for the cleanliness of your area you should probably ask/shoo it to leave. Besides that it is harmless and even if it did die. As long as it croaks over the roof to the ground, some kind animal of nature will take care of its body for you.
posted by Bodrik at 10:20 AM on October 23, 2011


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