Parivalakka’s Delivery - Part 1

The Beginning

Recently we started small scale gardening in our balconies. In our kitchen balcony we have a “herb pot” in which we had planted mint, rosemary and oregano. During last few days we observed that the mint is slowly dying. We also observed that a pigeon is frequently coming and walking on that pot. We were annoyed and were wondering if pigeon eats mint leaves J or bites the plant for some reason, maybe there is some worm in that soil etc. In any case, we decided to wait and watch.

Today morning we had a surprise, and the secret was out – there was an egg on that herb pot! Suddenly we realized why the pigeon was visiting that place often during last few days. By this time the mint plant had almost completely died away and had become kind of natural nest!

Egg in the Herb Pot

Close up view of the egg

Mother pigeon near the egg

Let me call this pigeon Parivalakka (Parivala = Pigeon in Kannada, Akka = elder sister) Parivalakka was in fact incubating when I tried to take this photo from inside the house through a window. She immediately sensed my movement from a distance, got afraid and started to flee away from the scene. So far I have not been successful in taking a picture of her while incubating.

Keeping an eye from a distance

We can see that Parivalakka doesn’t stay too far from her egg. She keeps a watch from nearby places and listens to noises around that place.

Guarding the nest with a bird’s view!

This is another place where Parivalakka simply stays for a long time, probably intently watching a vast surrounding that she can see from that place.

Need help, advices

Those who are constantly troubled by pigeons or other birds might feel that this is just a nuisance, but we are not in a mood to destroy or disturb Parivalakka’s plans. We are feeling amused and curious to see nature’s work in coming days, in a non-intrusive way. But we are also apprehensive about several things. If anyone has experience in this area and can provide advices, we would be thankful.

-          We frequently use that balcony and currently it is making Parivalakka afraid. Based on what I have heard so far, birds are very sensitive and if we touch the egg or younger ones after they hatch out, parent birds disown them. Is this true? Will this happen even if we frequently go near the place?

-          Is relocating the pot an option, to a nearby balcony? Will Parivalakka recognize the new place and her egg on her own? Also, she might have chosen the current spot very carefully, and relocation might be disastrous for her intent, notion of safety, who knows?

-          Also, we have an idea to build a small partition-wall using cardboard or thermocol so that both of us maintain a distance, but again no idea how Parivalakka might perceive this sudden and huge change in the surroundings.

-          If Parivalakka now realizes that our movement is too scary for her (and egg’s) safety, will she take the egg away using her claws? After all, she didn’t really build a nest. The dried mint plant looks like a natural nest, that’s all.

-          Can we water the remaining plants in that pot? How Parivalakka might react to that? They generally look for dry place, isn’t it? Or will she be happy to see moist soil around? Should we keep some water nearby that pot for Parivalakka to drink or should we simply not intervene?

-          Also, once the egg hatches, we are afraid that the bird might get too protective and might attack us whenever we go to that balcony; we are not sure though. It is not possible to be extremely gentle with our movements because it is kitchen balcony and also utility area - we use it for several noisy activities that involves sudden movements.

Overall, I wish the bird had chosen a better place, perhaps our other balconies where we could have adjusted/limited our activities, but now we are confused and apprehensive.

More questions, just curious

It is quite interesting to see that so many interesting questions pop up in the head when we see this kind of natural phenomenon so close to us.

-          Is Parivalakka stupid and inexperienced? Why else she has laid egg without building her own nest and away from human reach? (Many people just destroy the nest or egg to avoid inconvenience)

-          Where is her male partner? I thought they take care of this business together.

-          Generally how many hours a day she incubates the egg? Any idea?

More later, as the nature unfolds the story.

Next: Parivalakka’s Delivery – Part 2