Los Palitos—Day Seven

Many sources say that eared doves are supposed to fledge in 9 days, but I have my doubts. (Some sources say 9 to 14, the latter of which seems more likely.)

Los Palitos: Day Six

6:30 AM—The view from my living room window is rather poor—lately, all I see is Pal's tail feathers. And I notice that she's getting more and more pushed out of the box as the Palitos get bigger.

That philodrendrony plant is sending out a new red leaf, which I think is also starting to get in Pal's way.

8:30 AM—Los Palitos are tucked together, as usual.

9:30 AM—Caught Pal's attention while tossing some sunflower seeds.

Noon

Los Palitos: Day Five

6:30 AM  Pal flew off for a quick break. Caught the Palitos awake, though contemplative. (By the way, as always, you can click on these pics to enlarge them.)

I've been putting out sunflower seeds on the roof opposite Pal's window, but I haven't been sure if she's eating them. But yesterday I saw a dove out there for the first time. Again, this morning I saw two doves out there (and a few pigeons). I can't be sure that they're Pal Uno and Pal Dos, of course, since they all look the same, but think at least one of them must be a Pal.

Here's the view from my kitchen window. Pal's nest is in the windowbox in front of the bathroom window, which is to the right. You can also see that my aloe is blooming in the windowbox in front of my writing desk.

A possible Pal grabbing some seeds before the greedy pigeons get them all.

A bit later: This one is definitely Pal—I saw her leave the nest. (Correx: I saw him leave the nest. Daniel looked at the pics and tells me that the blue head here is a sure sign that this Pal is a he, not a she. So we know that he was taking care of the kids at least some of the time.)

I better get some more sunflower seeds tomorrow.

Noon: Another close-up (better camera).

Los Palitos: Day Four

7:00 AM—I just saw mom fly off, presumably for a quick bite, so I snapped some pics. Not great—the kids are asleep and curled up together. But you can see that their feathers are coming in.

5:00 PM—Just came home and Pal was out, so snapped another shot of sleeping babes. I guess that's about all they do right now, other than eat. Pal just came back, so my timing was good.

Los Palitos: Day Two

Los Palitos—Day One

After more than two weeks of fretting and anxiety (mine, that is), the eggs hatched today and we have two scrawny, yellow, and ugly little lumps I've named the Palitos (Uno and Dos). Pal (the mom and/or dad) has been sitting patiently throughout, sometimes turning around and waggling some tail feathers at me.

Today, Pal was gone when I came back to the apartment. I've been worried that the eggs weren't fertile, so I opened the window a bi and there they were, huddled together in a sodden lump, but clearly breathing. Pal stayed away for at least an hour, which made me awfully tense, but I guess she (or he) knows more about this than I do.

Pals

I noticed this bird hanging out in my window box. It was sitting there for quite a while and I kept thinking "what a lazy bird that is." Finally, it dawned on me that it wasn't lazy, but roosting. Sure enough, when it flew away for a bit one afternoon, I opened the window quickly and spotted an egg.

I've named her Pal (short for Paloma). My friend Daniel, who is a true expert on local birds, tells me she's a Paloma Torcaza, or Eared Dove. It's likely that there are two of them, with the male and femal taking turns sitting on the eggs. Since they look just about identical, I can't tell when Pal 1 switches places with Pal 2.