By Carol Tannenhauser

The question often arises: Why don’t we ever see baby pigeons walking around the city with the millions of pigeon adults?

It could be because pigeon parents are unusually protective. After hatching, pigeons spend their entire youth — just over a month — in the nest, “being cared for 24/7 by attentive parents … [growing] strong enough to take flight,” according to the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. “When they are finally ready to take the plunge out of the nest, they have already developed into full-sized pigeons.”

Some of us are — and actually consider ourselves — lucky enough to have a pigeon nest in our view.

I have one on a small terrace off my living room, where the two “squabs” (as baby pigeons are called) pictured above were laid, hatched, and are currently still being incubated and fed by both parents. I’ve watched them changing shifts. Pigeons mate for life, or until one partner dies. The life span of a wild pigeon averages two to five years, according to the Parks department.

Upper West Siders David and Heather Stone also had a bird’s eye view of the pigeon reproductive process.

“I had never seen the inside of a pigeon’s nest until a few weeks ago when one was built right outside my window,” David Stone wrote to the Rag. “The mother deposited two eggs, and she and the father took turns roosting over the next three weeks. A few days ago, one of the eggs hatched …. We’re open to suggestions for baby names.”

As am I, having hastily named my pigeon couple Pat and Pete — and, by the way, let me offer a special shout-out to them. Steadfast and selfless, they took turns sitting on their eggs through all kinds of conditions, including the three-day, three-night, rain-and-wind storm we had at the start of April, rivaling my personal role model, Horton the Elephant, for faithfulness, 100%!

Here’s a video of the baby pigeons on my terrace, exposed for a few minutes periodically, while their mother or father stretches their legs and gathers food for them. Anyone know what the young ones are doing in the video while their parents are away?

One final note: Before the babies were born, the terrace was a mess, covered with pigeon poop. Since their birth a week ago, it has been immaculate.

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