Rarely Seen Baby Pigeons Appear On A Wash Heights Windowsill

WASHINGTON HEIGHTS, NY — Nobody ever sees baby pigeons. It is a longstanding piece of New York City folklore about the Big Apple's unofficial mascot. But Washington Heights resident Rose Pile recently got an intimate peek into the beginning stages of life for the city's most common bird.

At the beginning of May, Pile shared pictures of the baby pigeons on Facebook.

"I'm sure I'm not the only one that has never seen a baby pigeon," she wrote.

While there is a certain level of randomness to the pigeons nesting on Pile's Washington Heights apartment's window ledge, there is also a "sweet" backstory that makes you think it might not be so random at all.

Pile's beloved cat passed away last month.

"I planted a bunch of flowers on the ledge to remember her. I also put her cat bed at the window because she liked watching the birds," Pile told Patch. "The next day I heard rustling at the window and noticed there was some straw and one egg on my ledge."

A second egg appeared shortly after and a male and female pigeon spent the next 18 days sitting on the ledge until the babies hatched.

"It was kind of beautiful that new life was brought to my home after losing my sweet cat friend of 20 years," Pile said.

"My partner and I had loathed pigeons until this, so it was nice to soften up to them and see them in a different light," Pile told Patch. "They definitely recognize me at this point and know I'm not a threat."

Here are a few facts about pigeons in New York City:

• Pigeons first arrived in America in the 1600s.
• Common pigeons can fly up to 45 mph, while specially trained ones can get up to 75 mph.
• There's an age-old adage that there's one pigeon per person in New York City, which would mean there are some eight million pigeons in the city. But the estimate from more trusted sources puts the number somewhere between one and two million.
• The New York Times wrote a story in April 2020 about New York pigeons and Boston pigeons not liking each other.