Generally, animals, especially pigeons, will do the best they can to ensure that their offspring survives. Animals will usually put themselves in dangerous situations in order to keep their young safe, but this isn’t always the case.

Sometimes a parent will kill off its offspring and this happens with pigeons as well. If you’ve ever wondered why pigeons kill their babies then this article will give you the answer. If you’re a pigeon lover, pigeon enthusiast or are simply curious this article is for you.

Pigeon killing off their offspring is called scalping. A parent pigeon will scalp its baby if the baby comes out malformed or if the baby falls out of the nest and does not die immediately. In this case, the mother kills the baby to prevent unneeded suffering and to prevent predators from being drawn to her.

Why do pigeons kill their babies?

Pigeons may look cute and completely harmless, but it will interest you to know that these birds kill their babies some of the time. This act is referred to as scalping. The motives behind this behaviour might be hard to understand since pigeon parents are usually attentive and fiercely protective of their young.

Pigeons have it in them to perform this unpleasant behaviour when their baby comes out of its egg malformed or when the baby falls out of the nest without dying immediately. The mother bird knows the chick is severely wounded and won’t survive, so she kills it before its squeaking attracts predators to the nest’s location. Also, baby pigeons can get scalped by other adult pigeons if their parents aren’t there to offer them adequate protection.

Do birds mourn the loss of a baby?

It all depends on the bird species here. Some birds will mourn the loss of their baby, and others won’t. Birds like pigeons, crows, doves, penguins, and jays are some of the species that mourn their babies all the time. When a mother penguin loses her chick, she gets depressed and grieves over the dead baby for days. Pigeons do the same.

Other birds like eagles, hawks, and the rest aren’t too concerned when one of their chicks dies – this is because they are usually busy with ensuring the remaining chicks stay alive. Perhaps, if all chicks in a clutch die, they would feel the loss. But who knows?

What happens if you touch a baby pigeon?

One misconception is that humans shouldn’t touch a baby pigeon. The idea behind this is that when you touch a baby pigeon, the mother knows you did. It is said that she can smell the residue of your hands and the baby pigeon you touched suffers for your actions because its parents stop caring for it.

This is nothing you have to worry about, a pigeon won’t abandon its baby if touched by a human.  The only reason why you shouldn’t touch a baby pigeon is that it is generally very fragile and easily injured.

Do pigeons leave their babies?

Pigeons are usually good caregivers to their chicks. They look after their babies and will try to keep them safe. When eggs hatch, both parents provide food and warmth for the chicks. The babies are never left alone in the nest. If one parent goes out searching for food, the other stays behind to feed and protect the babies. However, there are cases where both parents entirely abandon their babies in the nest. Some of the reasons include:

• Too many humans having access to the nest
• Powerful pigeon predators stalking the nest

When both parents leave the nest, they do so to save themselves from being killed or eaten.

Why do you never see baby pigeons?

You might have wondered why you never get to see baby pigeons around – this is because most baby pigeons do not step out of their nest until after six weeks. By the time they leave the nest, they are nearly fully grown and look similar to adults, so you won’t even be able to tell they are young pigeons.

Conclusion:

In conclusion, pigeons kill their babies as a means of protecting themselves from predators. If the baby falls out of the nest it will cry and squeak which will alert predators, killing the baby avoids this. The parents will also kill the babies if it comes out of the egg deformed. In addition, if the pigeon parent cannot protect the baby it will be scalped.

Certain birds will mourn the loss of the baby and this includes pigeons. Pigeons are very attentive parents and will only leave their offspring in extreme circumstances, they won’t leave their chick if it has been touched by a human.

If you enjoyed this article then you may also be interested in other pigeon related articles. Here are some articles that you may be interested in: Pigeon not sitting on egg, why and what to do? Pigeon egg not hatching, why and what to do? How long can pigeon eggs survive without incubation? Do pigeons grieve?