because cornell said so

from pigeonwatch-mailbox reply-to pigeonwatch@cornell.edu to Maia Spotts date Thu, Apr 9, 2009 at 1:19 PM subject Re: nest

Dear Maia,

If they nest successfully in your a/c slot, you might have pigeon company for some time to come. Rock Pigeons breed many times during the year, and because they have this flexibility they are very successful at reproducing. Anotherwards, if this nest doesn't work for them they are quite capable of starting another one right away. Please check out our information about nesting at the Project PigeonWatch web site. Pigeons will appreciate food, water, and shelter, but please be aware that if you make a nice place for them, more will come! If you attract large numbers of pigeons it can work against them, because people will notice and feel they are a nuisance. You need not feel obliged to do anything to interfere or help. Use this wonderful chance to observe nesting behavior first-hand. The male and female usually trade off incubating the egg once they begin the process...but a fertilized egg will be viable for some time before the parents must begin the development process by incubating the egg.