Gen(i)us: First Three Days in the Life of a Pigeon

Thanks to Ayoub Hadidi (FB), administrator of Bird Squad group, for this intimate portrait of the hatching of a pigeon chick and its first three days of development.

The pigeons live just outside Ayoub’s house and are comfortable with his handling.  As usual wild pigeons, they fly out and about the town during the day but return to the protection of the outside of Ayoub’s residence in the evening.

In the pictures featured on our Gen(i)us page, Ayoub has painstakingly over the first three days of the hatchling’s life taken consistent pictures of its daily development.

Note in the above video the lack of stress the mother parent obviously feels around Ayoub: although she is right next to the hatching egg, she does not move away when Ayoub approaches but rather allows him to remove the egg to put it indoors under better light for videotaping the hatching process.

For the full set of pictures, click here.