The Doves -

    My dove pair are "Pigeon" and "Dove"... not real imaginative names, I know!  Pigeon, the male, is a normal pied; Dove is a Tangerine pied.  Both are lovely birds; I originally got Dove when I saw her in a cage at a bird fair and thought she was just too pretty not to bring home :-)

    I adore my doves, I really do, but they do have one problem - they never stop breeding!  My one pair of doves keeps me almost constantly stocked with baby doves.  I take the nest down after every other clutch or so, but if they get real desperate they just lay on the cage floor, at which point I generally give them their nest back.  Their urge to breed can be helpful though... they've incubated conure eggs for me!

    I really enjoy the doves, and *highly* recommend them as pets; in particular, they fit in well in some homes where most parrots wouldn't do as well.  Specifically, they do much better where someone wants a bird or birds they can handle, but at the same time doesn't have a lot of time for them.  Parrots don't do well without a lot of attention, and aren't as friendly in pairs.  Doves stay very tame in pairs!  And, they're easy to handle and can't bite.  Plus they come in many beautiful colors and have soft, pleasant voices.  I would recommend two males or two females, though, unless you want many many babies!

    Their diet is pretty straight-forward; you can buy dove seed, but personally my doves do just fine on cockatiel pellets and "extras"... extras being people food, chopped finely enough that the doves can swallow pieces whole.  Doves, unlike parrots, swallow their food whole, and also unlike parrots require grit, especially if you're feeding seed.

    Caging should be as large as possible... doves are pretty big birds, when you think about it!  But, pet birds that are going to be handled daily can be housed in cockatiel sized cages.  Doves get along with pretty much any bird that will get along with them, and I've housed mine with finches, cockatiels, and parakeets with no problems... with the exception of the parakeets, and then the only problem was that they'd bother the baby doves in the nest.  But, most male doves don't like to have other male doves around!  Though they do okay in pairs, without any females.

Pictures:

• Pigeon, on the left, & Dove
• Baby dove, less than a week old
• The same baby dove, only 4 days later!

• DovePage
• The American Dove Association
• DOVElove~

 

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