16 June 2024

Rock pigeons nest on cliffs in the wild, or on high buildings and bridges in feral settings. They will even nest inside chimneys if the chimney has a ledge. Years ago I had no idea this was possible until I heard cooing in the living room and finally took time to investigate.

We used to own a house built in 1907 with two brick chimneys. After we replaced the furnace, the main chimney went completely unused. There was no exhaust from the furnace and no smoke from a fireplace so I ignored chimney maintenance. I didn’t realize that my negligence left the chimney open to new tenants.

Gosh, I was naive. A brick fell down the chimney but it only happened once and I procrastinated until I forgot about it. (The missing brick probably created a ledge.) One spring I heard starling voices coming down the chimney, but I heard them only twice and I forgot about it. Then one year I heard cooing in the chimney. It happened often enough that I could not ignore it. I went outside to look at the chimney. What was going on?

As I watched from the street, a pigeon landed on the chimney and disappeared. Hmmm! When it reappeared the pigeon flew to some brush, picked up a twig, flew back to the chimney and disappeared. The chimney had no cap. He was building a nest!

Rock pigeon nests are very bare bones, mostly substrate with a few twigs and dried grasses. The male gathers material while she stays at the nest and coos when he brings new bits and pieces. I was hearing them build the nest.

I quickly hired a critter control company who removed the pigeon nest and capped the chimney. The cap was a simple wire mesh like this one. Problem solved! (This is not a photo of my old house but the cap is similar.)

So now you know. When you hear pigeons cooing in the chimney they are setting up housekeeping. It’s never safe to assume they aren’t nesting. Rock pigeons breed all year long if there is adequate food on hand.

p.s. Have you ever seen a baby pigeon? They don’t look like their parents.