Mama Bird: A Working Mother

One day in April I decided to open the door of my balcony. The door had been kept shut all winter, but now that it was warmer outside I thought it might be a good idea to let in some fresh air. Though I didn’t expect to see anything when I opened the door, quite a sight awaited me. There on the balcony was a nest made of twigs, and in the nest was a baby bird.

At first I was shocked. But then I remembered hearing a soft cooing sound in the mornings which must have come from the mother and father birds. Indeed, shortly after I opened the door, there was a flapping of wings, and I saw two pigeons approach the balcony railing. They flew right to the nest and started hovering over the baby. A family.

I proceeded to excitedly tell my friends about my new guests. One of my friends suggested I give the birds names. But try as I might, I couldn’t come up with anything original, so I simply referred to them as Mama, Papa and Baby Bird.

Mama Bird was definitely a working mother. Several times a day she would fly out of the nest and find food, some of which she brought back to her little one. Papa Bird helped her in this endeavor (a very egalitarian family!). Besides the food she got from outside, Mama Bird also gave her baby what is called “crop milk,” a white substance pigeons produce in their throats. Pigeons then regurgitate, or “throw up,” the crop milk into their babies’ mouths. I spotted Mama Bird feeding the baby crop milk this way a number of times. But sometimes Mama Bird and her little one simply sat there in the nest cuddling, with Baby Bird leaning her head against her mother’s chest. I only wish I had had film in my camera to capture that moment of affection!

At first Baby Bird was featherless and covered with a fuzzy down. Within a few weeks, however, feathers started appearing on her body, and soon it was hard to tell her apart from her parents. Baby Bird’s flying skills started to improve too. Sometimes I’d look out on the balcony and notice that all three birds were gone, though they always came back later.

It was at this point I decided to evict them for good. The baby could safely fly on its own by now and had "grown up". I really enjoyed watching the birds, but I also wanted to use the balcony myself, and I couldn’t do that if the place was covered in bird droppings! So one day I removed the nest, called a pigeon control company, and spent $100 for a man to come and clean off the droppings from the balcony floor. From then on I left the balcony door open so that my cats could go outside and scare off any potential avian guests. (The term “avian” is a fancy word for bird.)

I still miss the bird family, though. Every time I see a pigeon, I wonder if that is Mama Bird or one of her relatives. I doubt it; the city where I live is full of pigeons. But I’ll always remember the special time I had with Mama, Papa and Baby Bird.

BY: Emily, 17, Canada