Feeding wild pigeons daily has been a form of charity for a Saudi national for the past 20 years. Sulaiman Al-Fares finds comfort in feeding wild pigeons that abound in the capital city. “I set aside a certain amount from my income for this purpose and have made it a habit to feed wild pigeons on a regular basis,” he said. On his way to lunch at 1 P.M., Al-Fares buys a bag of grain to feed the pigeons that nest on the high-rise buildings in the Iskaan area. After spreading the grain in an open area, he fills a plastic bowl with water for the pigeons to drink. Although wild, the pigeons learn to feed from a particular place if grain is supplied on a regular basis, he said. “Feeding wild birds is for the love of Allah,” he said. Narrating verses from the Noble Qur'an, he said Islam teaches people to take care of animals and trees so that ecological balance is maintained for the benefit of human beings. He said charity has many aspects and feeding birds is one of them. Al-Fares said he also encourages his children to do charitable work. “I encourage my children to give away from their pocket money to needy people,” he said. Pigeons mate for life and rear their broods together. Once the simple nest is built, the female lays an egg, and then another a day or so later. The incubation period for common pigeons is 17 to 19 days. The female sits on the egg from late afternoon through the night until about 10 A.M. The male then takes over and does the day shift. Once the eggs hatch, both parents feed the young squabs. The first food is pigeon milk or crop milk, a cheesy substance that appears in the crops of the parents at hatching time and is provided for a week or so. Then the adults start regurgitating partially digested grain for the young. By the time the squabs are ready to fly, after about four weeks, the male partner would be doing most of the feeding. The squabs are fed for another week to 10 days before they start flying.
