Bebe, Baba, and the Bunch

There he was...sitting there, looking so cute and adorable. I came to this same spot regularly, but I never noticed him before. Was he a local? Perhaps he had come here before but I just didn’t notice him. I wanted to introduce myself but I was busy and he seemed a bit distracted. Maybe I would see him tomorrow.

Oh, and just to clarify, I’m speaking about a bird! Yeah...a cute little sparrow was perched on my windowsill, and I was watching him as I sat at the table in my dining room. Sorry if you thought this was going to be some heartwarming story about two strangers who pass in the night, who shared an instant connection, blah, blah, blah...With all the madness that was going on in 2020, it was a cute little bird on my windowsill that created a new and unusual project and purpose for me.

An Unexpected Visitor

So, first and foremost, I’ve always loved animals! They’re just so beautiful, majestic, and I really do believe that humans could learn a great deal more from them if we just paid closer attention. At the top of my lists are dogs, horses, dolphins, wild cats, elephants, seals, otters...the list is endless. But birds? I mean, who isn’t in awe of eagles, but I can’t say I ever paid attention to the birds in my neighborhood. I mean, their chirping was cute, but that was about it. But then he came...I’ll call him Chip. What caught my attention is that in the 10+ years that I had been living in this house, I never noticed any birds sitting on the windowsill. Never. So when Chip arrived, I was a bit mesmerized. But he sat as if he was expecting something. Food? How could I have been prepared? I wasn’t expecting him! Well...

I just happened to have bird food in my storage area. I know...a non-bird lover who has a 5-pound bag of bird food in storage. How that happened was that I had gone to an open square at a nearby courthouse just to soak in some sun. There were pigeons everywhere! They seemed most comfortable around humans because assoon as someone sat down on the bench, a swarm would waddle over to them in expectation of food. So, I thought I would buy some bird food and feed them a few times a week. I was surprised at how relaxing it made me feel. I generally look at pigeons quickly, but now, I was looking a how beautiful and different each one was from the other. But let me not digress, back to Chip…

The next day, I decided to put some bird food in a small container that held about half a cup of bird food. My windowsill has a slight slat, so I needed to make sure the container would stay secure, so I used some duct tape. Chip returned and ate the food quickly! Oh, joy! Within a day or two, Chip brought a friend, and his friend brought a friend. After a few days, I realized that I needed a larger container, so I got one a little bigger. Word got around very quickly, and it seemed that Chip was having a daily party! I would have preferred some advance notice, but Chip was so cute, I let it slide.

New Kids on the Block

After about a few months of Chip and his crew showing up daily, I noticed a different bird had arrived. It looked to be a cross between a pigeon and a dove. I had never seen it before, but I only took a vague interest. After all, I had only eyes for Chip! But the pigeon dove started showing up every day. Hmmm...What was interesting was that the pigeon dove, Chip, and the other birds all seemed to get along. I guess food will do that; no matter what the differences, food makes everyone equal.

I think it was less than a week that the pigeon dove brought a friend! Wait! What’s going on here! The pigeon dove was pretty, but about 3x the size of Chip. And now there’s two of them, that meant I had to buy more food! OK, I can handle that, no problem. I started feeding Chip and his buddies around October. In 2020, New York City had what I call a “real” winter, one we haven’t had in a while. Over the last few years, there would be talks of a snowstorm; things would shut down and people would stock up on food. The snow would come looking ferocious but then disappear within 48-hours. In 2020, we had a few snowstorms, with snow lingering for days into weeks. During one of those storms, I was surprised to see nine different birds hovered around the tray to eat. The snow kept covering the bird food, but they used their beaks to dig through. It was a beautiful thing to witness.

Pigeon Dove Gets a Name

Spring arrived and the two pigeon doves arrived daily, often staying for hours. I was still curious to know what kind of bird it was, so I reached out to my favorite source of information: Grandpa Google. Grandpa Google never let me down, so I typed in a few keywords, and, voila! My pigeon dove had a name: mourning doves. The word mourning was given to them because their call sounds like it’s crying. So, the mourning doves became regulars. I thought it only appropriate to give them a name: Bebe and Baba.

Everything was going fine until one day, I noticed something interesting: Bebe usually would spend a few hours hanging out by or inside the food tray. Then one day, I noticed a twig in the tray. There’s a tree right next to the house, so I just thought one had fallen from the tree. The next day, there was another twig. Then one day, I saw Baba make several trips, and each time, he came back with a twig! Hey, there! What’s going on! Are you guys trying to build something on my windowsill? Yep! That’s exactly what they were doing. And that “something” was a nest! After a few days, Bebe would spend all day in that nest. I thought it a bit odd, but I just thought that perhaps Bebe wanted to stake her claim on the food. I could totally relate. But, that wasn’t the case at all. Beba had laid an egg! I couldn’t believe it! Bebe and Bab had built their tiny home on my windowsill! A day later, I saw another little egg! Siblings had been hatched right outside my window! What was even more beautiful was that Bebe and Baba shared the responsibility of keeping the eggs warm, each taking about a 12-hour shift. This was co-parenting at its best!

Within 2-weeks, the eggs hatched, and within 2-3 weeks after they hatched, the chicks had grown and had flown away! I did some research (Grandpa Google again), turns out that mourning doves can lay 2-5 broods (pair of chicks) between April and July. If they have a “successful” hatching, they will return to the same location, year after year. After the chicks had grown and left the nest, they, Bebe, and Baba would return daily for food. Within 2-3 weeks, Bebe returned and repeated the same process - 2 more chicks!

With the first brood, both chicks left the nest around the same time. With the second brood, one chick felt more mature days before their sibling, so the one chick was left in the nest by themselves for about 2 or 3 days. The other birds continued to come throughout the day to get their food, and Beba and Baba would come throughout the day to feed it with regurgitated food (yummy!). But once it got dark, the chick was left alone in the nest. By this time, I had set up a second tray of food in my other window, mainly because Bebe and Baba had taken over the food tray with their nest.

Bebe, Baba, and the Bunch

So, here it is almost nine months later; Chip and his friends come for their feeding, along with Beba, Baba, and their tribe. Of course, I have no idea of who’s who, but I can usually distinguish the younger mourning doves from the older ones. I think. I never grow tired of watching them. I love watching them be still and they sit and soak in the sun, but I am equally amused when a squabble breaks out over food.

Although I could never officially make them my pets, I consider them mine. For the last few months, I have posted 30-second videos on Facebook, talking about Beba, Baba, and the bunch. It’s something fun to do and people seem to really enjoy watching the videos. What’s interesting, is that I have heard of a few people who have developed an interest in birds during COVID. Perhaps it’s the simplicity of their lives that seems so attractive. Often, during the afternoon, I can see a number of the mourning doves perched on the tree right near the house. I’m curious to know where they go at night, but seeing them during the day really does bring me joy. I don’t know for how long that I’ll be here, feeding my new feathered friends. But, for now, I’m enjoying my daily encounters with Bebe, Baba, and the bunch...ever so grateful that a cutie named Chip came to my windowsill.