This is an amazing story! On March 15th, Palomacy adopter Garni contacted me asking for guidance about an oops baby (missed egg) hatched by her rescued pigeon pets Amelia & Jacques. She sent me a photo & the tiny baby looked good with a full crop, feet square beneath & attentive dad Jacques on the job. While we do our best to prevent them, once an oops baby hatches, we welcome & love them. I told her the parents know what to do & that all she needed was to monitor that all continues to go well.

A couple of hours later, Garni checked & the baby was dead & abandoned. We have no idea what happened.

Shocked, Garni texted me. We were both heartbroken & upset. In desperation, I suggested she try gently squeezing the baby in her warm hand in an effort to CPR her back to life. Garni did & IT WORKED! Baby revived! Garni rushed to further warm her up & we reached out to rescue expert Chava for 911 help & critical care.

Chava, despite being totally full & slammed, said Yes & Garni dropped everything to drive baby (warmed by heated rice-filled socks) an hour in heavy traffic to get the extra emergency support required for this critically weak hatchling. Chava’s rescue pigeon Ms. Pidge had been sitting on her fake egg & expertly welcomed the frail hatchling into her loving foster care. Ms. Pidge fed & warmed & comforted the baby now called Peepers. Chava provided one supplemental feed to boost baby’s strength (& monitored her closely in case more help was needed).

Miraculously Peepers survived the night! Chava, Garni & I were all overjoyed the following morning to see the little miracle baby was still with us.

A note about nesting with zip ties: Pigeons seek out long skinny things to build their nests with such as small branches, long grasses, hay stalks, pine needles as well as man-made things like string, wire, thread (which often result in stringfoot entanglement), zip ties, ribbons, coffee stirrers, charger cords (a favorite!), strips of paper, pipe cleaners, Q-tips, straws, scrunchies, pencils, etc. Chava’s pigeons have a variety of nesting materials available & Ms. Pidge has a strong preference for zip ties hence her nest filled with them. (Ms. Pidge built her nest, not Chava.) As rescuers who totally oppose breeding, we’re not allowing eggs to hatch so the nest materials don’t need to be perfect for babies but even in this case when an emergency baby was fostered, the zip ties proved fine.

3/30- 15 days old & standing up for the first time

Chava writes, Garni, Elizabeth, Ms. Pidge, and myself all working together to save, support, and love baby Peepers is a perfect example of what Palomacy embodies every day – two species, humans and pigeons, collaborating with respect and love. We humans do our best to provide safe sanctuary and advocacy for these often-exploited birds, and in turn they share so generously with us their seemingly boundless capacity for love and their tenacious zest for life.

Garni says, I am embarrassed to have let an oops baby get by – but so thankful that we have Peepers! As always, Elizabeth’s knowledge and calm won the day! When I met Chava and she and Ms. Pidge fostered Peepers I could not have been more thankful! It seems Palomacy has created this flock of wonderful pigeons but also this flock of amazing people who share their knowledge, time, resources and joy generously. I’m so thankful to be a part of that little lock and thankful for Elizabeth and Chava. … and next time I’ll call Elizabeth with my questions BEFORE the egg becomes a baby!

Peepers is truly a miracle bird! Even after she was revived, I was terrified that she wouldn’t survive. Adult pigeons are tough but the babies are so frail & newly hatched ones the frailest. I am so grateful to Garni & Chava for so bravely risking the heartbreak that helping little Peepers might have returned. Palomacy opposes breeding (there are way too many unreleasable birds already!) & we replace real eggs with fakes for hatch prevention but when an egg is missed & hatches like little Peepers’ did, we cherish the new life. You can learn more about hatch prevention here & you can support Palomacy’s rescue & rehoming work here. Thank you!