Doves and Pigeons as Pets By PH Budgie
The difference between doves and pigeons is mostly size. Doves are generally sleeker and smaller with pointed tails, while pigeons are larger and stockier with rounded tails. The common urban pigeon is also known as a "Rock Dove." The popular white dove releases at various celebrations are billed as "dove" releases, but ethical companies always use white homing pigeons, as they return home. Doves and pigeons make excellent pets. They are attractive, quiet, unobtrusive, have a calming, gentle voice, are fairly easy to tame, generally healthy and hardy, active but not demanding, require little maintenance and are usually inexpensive. They are easy to breed and make excellent parents. DOVES The most common doves kept as pets are the Ringneck and Diamond Doves. The Ringneck Dove has been bred in over 40 color mutations: white, peach, fawn, pied and apricot, to name a few. It is also known as the laughing dove, collared dove, Barbary dove or turtledove, and the white mutation is sometimes called the Java dove, peace dove, or sacred dove. Color mutations of Diamond Doves include cinnamon, pied, brown, brilliant, yellow, snow white, white tailed, and silver. The Diamond Dove, sometimes called the Little Dove or Little Turtledove, belongs to the genus Geopelia that includes five small, long-tailed doves that eat grains and live in the relatively open savanna and semi-arid regions in Australia. One of the five species, the Zebra Dove, has a range that extends into Southeast Asia and have been imported into and become feral in Hawaii and parts of the continental USA. Four of the species have barred plumage while the Diamond Dove has spotted plumage. Diamond Doves Diamond Doves (Geopelia cuneata) were imported to Europe in the late 1800s. They were raised in the London Zoological Garden as early as 1868. They have become one of the most popular of aviary birds and are an excellent choice for beginners. They rarely get sick and can be kept with other small, peaceful, birds such as finches. They also do well inside and are best kept in pairs. They can live up to fifteen years in captivity, with an average life expectancy of ten years. The Diamond Dove is one of the smallest of the Australian doves, weighing less than an ounce (23 to 27 grams) and about 7-1/2 to 8-1/3 inches long. Adults have a gray body, creamy-white abdomen, blue gray and chestnut wing feathers with white diamond specks on the wings, a long tail with white tipped outer tail feathers and dark gray bill. The legs and feet are pink. The adult birds' eyes are have orange irises with a pronounced orange-red orbital ring and can often be sexed by the thickness of the eye ring and the color of the wing feathers. At maturity (about one year), the males have a silver gray color and a wide eye ring (about 2-3 mm). The females tend toward a brown gray color and have a thinner eye ring (about 1 mm thick). Diamond Doves have a variety of cooing calls. Birds in captivity will sometimes imitate human coos, too. They are very affectionate -- when one bird of a pair returns to a nest they often greet each other with very low, raspy coos. At night, if they are not nesting, they cuddle with each other and give their mate a series of very rapid light pecks around the neck and head while slightly shaking their wings. When mated birds become separated they will make a two-note call until they become reunited. As with all birds, Diamond Doves need enough cage room to move around, roost and exercise comfortably. A pair can be kept in as small as an 18 inch square cage but should be allowed free indoor flight every day. Minimum flight cage size should be 3'x 4'x 6'. They should never be allowed outdoor free flight as they lack the "homing" instinct of pigeons. They eat small whole seeds such as millet, canary grass, milo and wheat (a vitamin-fortified finch mix would work well) and are primarily ground feeders so should be provided separate seed, water and grit containers on or close to the floor. Also provide a cuttlebone, at least two natural-type perches of varying height, size and spacing, a small canary-type nest and dried grasses for nest building. Millet seed sprays, fresh greens, an occasional piece of whole wheat bread, hard boiled egg yolk and small meal worms are welcome treats. Grit should include crushed eggshells or oyster shells for calcium, sand for food grinding purposes, and tiny bits of charcoal as a digestion aid. Clean, fresh water is essential. Water bowls should be open and fairly deep as doves suck water into their bills. Offer a bathing dish once or twice a week with about 1/2 to 3/4 inch of luke-warm water, or mist the birds with a clean spray bottle. Cages should be located in a draft free area away from heating and cooling outlets, open windows, fireplaces and kitchen cooking fumes. If the cage is in a dark room or if the area becomes very cool, add a light attached to a timer. Vitalites, although expensive, provide a healthy light spectrum. These birds are happiest kept in mated pairs, but unless you want a lot of birds, you should remove the eggs once laid. Males can become territorial and may fight, especially if there is a female present. Females usually get along well together. Courting behavior is charming. The male dove usually begins the mating sequence by flying to the nesting site and incessantly calling for the female to join him. Once she is interested, they both fly to the ground where the male will display his tail feathers like a fan, while touching his beak to the ground. Sometimes he will puff up his feathers and strut around the female, stop, puff his feathers up further, then repeat the cycle. Sometimes separately or at the end of this display, the female will open her beak and the male will feed her like he would a baby, but the actions are much more violent and often end with the male violently slapping his wings against the ground. After mating the male will give a series of very short coos for a minute or so while both remain very still. Diamonds are devoted and very affectionate birds. When one bird of a pair returns to a nest they often greet each other with very low, raspy coos. At night, if they are not nesting, they often cuddle with each other and exchange very rapid light pecks around the neck and head while slightly shaking their wings. When separated, the birds give a two-note call until they become reunited. Two small white eggs are usually laid one day apart. Incubation is 13 to 14 days. The male will sit on the eggs during the day and the female at night. Sometimes both birds will brood together, especially toward the end of the incubation period. The young are hatched without feathers but are fully feathered within a week and are flying within two weeks. Both parents feed the young regurgitated food until they able to peck sufficient food for themselves. Before the babies are weaned, the parents may start a new brood. Diamond Doves are charming birds and make a wonderful addition to any aviary. They are particularly suited to apartment living, as they are fairly quiet, clean and non-destructive. They can be tamed with gentle and persistent handling, but will be friendliest if purchased young from a small breeder who has handled the babies from the time they are hatched. Although they will never talk and most likely won't learn "tricks", they are beautiful and will provide hours of quiet entertainment and pleasure. Ringneck Doves The domestic Ringneck Dove, Streptopelia risoria, is a cross between the wild species of Ringneck Doves, S.decaocto and S.roesogrisea. These are the doves of the Bible. They are not native to the USA, but probably originated in northeast Africa and Arabia. Raised as pets for over 2,000 years, they are now the most commonly kept doves in the world. The most familiar colors are beige-pink and pure white, but many other mutations have been bred, including a silky-feathered variety. The original wild colored bird has smooth brown and gray feathers on the back and wings with a rich rose-colored head and breast. The bird is named for its collar of black feathers about 3/16' wide around the neck, or in the white variety, a collar of white feathers growing horizontally against the grain of the neck feathers. These doves measure approximately 10 to 12 inches in length from beak to tail tip, and have a wingspread of approximately 15 inches. Males and females look alike and about the only way to tell the difference is by observation. Only males perform bow coos under ordinary conditions. This is the fastest coo in courting behavior, and is always directed at a particular bird with an accompanying head bow. The feet often alternate in "stamping". However, females long isolated from males may bow coo when presented with another bird. Perch coos and nest coos are slower and softer and the nest coo is always accompanied by wing "flipping." Perch coos and nest coos may be given by both sexes. Other characteristic male behaviors can also be taken on by long-isolated females, so are not as reliable. Some of their vocalizations sound like rippling laughter, thus the common name, "laughing dove." Ringnecks can be kept and bred in cages as small as two feet square, although a more appropriate size for a pair would be 36 x 24 x 30 inches high. A single bird can be housed in a smaller cage, but should be let out every day for indoor exercise. They should never be allowed outdoor free flight as they lack the "homing" instinct of pigeons. Ringnecks can be kept alone and tame quite easily, even as adults, with lots of patience. Let the bird see you often, always use gentle, slow movements, talk softly, and offer treats from your open palm, and within a few weeks the bird should trust you enough to step up onto your finger. If a bird raises its wing vertically over its shoulder and backs away, withdraw and try again later. Frightened doves can bash against the cage bars with enough force to injure themselves. When cornered, a terrified dove will "slap" you with its wing, although most doves won't bite or peck. Males tend to be quarrelsome with other males so it is best to keep them singly or in mated pairs. Provide separate food, water and grit dishes. Ringneck Doves eat seeds whole and suck water, as do all columbiaforms. They are ground-feeders, so are most comfortable with dishes placed near the bottom of the cage. Favorite seeds include wheat, milo or kaffir, rice, millet, cracked corn, vetch, chopped peanuts, safflower and tiny black sunflower. Commercial "Dove and Quail Mix" seed is available, but sometimes hard to find. Pigeon pellets or the smaller game-bird pellets (20 percent protein), or "crumbled" poultry feed, if reasonably fresh, are good for supplementing grain. The pellets will supply vitamins A and D3. The D3 is necessary if direct sun is not available. Some birds sweep their beaks through the seed looking for choice tidbits, so be prepared to vacuum under the cage often. Change the food and water every day, and keep the cage bottom clean. Soiled feed on the ground may spoil and cause illness. Doves also like extra calcium (crushed eggshell, or oyster shell) in their grit. Doves appreciate deep green leaves, such as dandelion, but they are not necessary if pellets are given. Welcome treats include crumbled whole wheat bread, millet sprays, crumbled hardboiled egg yolks, fresh greens, small pieces of grapes and watermelon. Some birds are pickier than others, so keep experimenting. If you have white birds, don't line the cage with newspaper or you will soon have birds with gray tails. Brown wrapping paper or paper towels work best, or use a cage with a wire bottom and under-tray. Provide a large shallow bathing dish two or three times a week, or mist the birds with a spray bottle. If you let your doves out, be prepared for them to fly up to the highest curtain rod and down to the floor to walk around the room looking for tidbits or nesting materials. They will return to their cage in time. Their droppings are well formed and harden quickly, so are easy to pick up with a vacuum cleaner. Don't be alarmed if your doves spend a few moments each day lounging on the bottom of their cage or on the floor, as long as they get up and go back to their perches within about an hour or so. Doves all exhibit this 'couch-potato' lounging posture, particularly in the afternoon, which is 'dove rest-period.' Perches in the birds cage can either be made of natural wood such as apple branches (be sure no pesticides have been used), or of hardwood, about 1/2 to 3/4 in diameter. Place three or four perches at least eight inches from the sides of the cage, so that they will not damage their tail feathers by banging them against the bars, and at least fifteen inches apart to give flying room. If the birds are kept inside, protect them from cold drafts and breezes, cooking fumes, fireplace smoke and other hazards. However, these are hardy birds that can take below freezing weather. They do well in outside aviaries if slowly acclimated and protected from the elements. A mated pair of birds will produce young on a regular basis, all year round. Unless you plan on a huge flock, or on giving away birds, it is best to remove the eggs. Sadly, some people still use white Ringneck Doves for celebratory "dove releases." Ringneck Doves released to the wild are fated to die horrible deaths. They are not equipped to live wild in most of our climates, have no natural fear of predators, and have never learned to distinguish "natural" foods. Ringneck Dove hens will probably start to lay eggs at about 8 months of age, sometimes even without a male present. Often the hen will sit in the food dish to lay her eggs. When you notice this behavior, place an 8 to 10-inch basket on the floor of the cage, away from the perches so droppings will not foul it, and provide clean straw or small sticks. You can line the nest first with paper towels and a little alfalfa straw for easy cleaning. If you do not want baby birds, remove the eggs when the second egg appears or four days after the first egg is laid, since some hens reabsorb an egg from time to time. When you remove eggs, distract your birds with a stalk of fresh millet seeds or some other treat. You can substitute marble eggs for the real ones to prevent immediate re-laying. Hens lay eggs approximately every three to four weeks in the spring breeding season, and if kept in warm rooms they will lay year-round, so be prepared to take away about a dozen eggs per hen per year. If you want baby birds, they will hatch in approximately two weeks. Both parents will take turns sitting on the eggs and feeding the babies, and when the babies perch on the side of the nest and get ready to try their wings, about 2 weeks after hatching, you can start finger-taming them. Ringneck Doves can be sweet and loving pets, given time and patience. Purchasing hand-raised babies will assure a tame bird. Their gentle ways and laughing coos offer an interesting and entertaining atmosphere to any home. PIGEONS Pigeons are not often viewed as pets. Most pigeons are bred to race, to show or to be used for food. Urban feral pigeon populations are considered nuisances or health hazards and are often exterminated in large quantities. But the pigeon has a noble history, is one of the most loyal and devoted of birds, and, when raised with love and attention, can be a faithful and treasured companion. Columbia livia, most familiar in the form of street pigeons, is a Mediterranean native. The French settlers at Port Royal, Nova Scotia first introduced the pigeon into North America in 1606 and European settlers imported them into the Colonies for food and message carrying in the 1700's, but man's relationship with pigeons predates written history. Long associated with peace, the dove symbol first appeared around 4500 B.C. and combined the attributes of all pigeons and doves. Historians speculate the birds clustered in early temples, as they do on modern buildings, so became linked with fertility goddesses like Venus, Astarte, and Aphrodite. These deities symbolized love, peace and harmony. Adding to the "love" connection is the pigeons endearing loyalty and devotion to the same mate year after year. By biblical times, the dove/pigeon had become a familiar image and symbol. According to biblical flood legend Noah sent out a raven that didn't come back and later a pigeon that returned with the olive branch, a sign of dry land - and of peace. In 1150, the Sultan of Baghdad launched a pigeon postal service that functioned until about 1258. Pigeons were used as messengers in Julius Caesar's times as well as during the siege of Paris in 1870-1871 and in both World Wars. During World War II at least 32 pigeons received the Dickin Medal for brave service. By the late 1800s, every US Naval station had a pigeon loft, and some maintained them well into the 1950s. Pigeons are a parrot's close avian relatives. They share such traits such as mating for life, producing a crop milk to feed their young, having a fleshy cere covering their nostrils and producing a powdery down in their feathers. The Rock Dove, the only domesticated variety of over 250 species of pigeons worldwide, has been selectively bred for various traits for about 3000 years. Some of the current varieties of the over 200 different modern breeds include Homing or Carrier Pigeons, Tumbling Pigeons and Exhibition or Fancy pigeons. Pigeons come in every imaginable color and variety, from gray barred (like urban pigeons) to red to silver, from petite to huge (The "Giant Runt" can weigh over 2-1/2 pounds), from frilly feathered to feathered feet. Raising a pigeon as a pet is not much different than raising a dove. Although it is possible to hand feed the young squab, it is not necessary. Pigeons are excellent parents and will continue feeding their youngsters well after they fledge. Once a baby comes out of the nest it is hardly distinguishable from its parents, thus the myth of "you never see a baby pigeon." Look for a local pigeon breeder who handles his birds daily. Pigeons bond easily with humans, especially those that feed them, and a tamed pigeon, kept alone, will become a faithful and loyal companion to its human. Maintaining a mated pair is not necessary, and unless you are racing or showing them, you probably don't want any extra birds. Pigeon droppings are messier than doves', so keeping one inside means constant clean-ups. Pigeons live to fly. Allow for at least some free-flight time, either inside or out. Birds that have bonded with a mate or with a location will generally always come home. (This may not be the case in the "fancy" pigeons, so consider clipping their wings if allowed outside). The risks of outdoor flight, though, may outweigh the advantages - free flying pigeons run a gauntlet of hawks, cats, cars, windows, kids with BB guns and pigeon-hating or practice-shooting adults with rifles. Caging needs to be large enough to allow the bird wing-flapping room and to avoid striking tail or wing feathers on the sides. Just like with doves, these birds are ground feeders, so provide their seed, water and grit on or near the floor of the cage. Install at least two natural-wood perches or a shelf and a perch. The shelf should be at least 6 inches deep and be the highest of the perches. Pigeons enjoy fresh seed gasses and other greens, whole wheat bread snacks and whole seeds such as safflower, popcorn, peas and other grains. Commercial pigeon seeds or pellets are available at most feed stores. They need larger grit than doves and also should have some eggshell or oyster shell available for calcium. Fresh daily water in a 2" deep dish is essential. Pigeons love to bathe, to provide a large, flat 1-2" deep dish of water at least twice a week. The only way to determine the sex of most pigeons is by behavior. At maturity, males tend to bow and coo and strut with fanned tails around their object of affection. They are quite vocal. Females are more demure. A pet pigeon can be a true delight for the enlightened and informed. BIBLIOGRAPHY Gibbs, David; Barnes, Eustace; Cox, John, Pigeons and Doves: A Guide to Pigeons and Doves of the World, London: Yale University Press 2001 Gos, Michael W., Doves. Neptune City, NJ: T.F.H. Publications, Inc., 1989 Patent, Dorothy Hinshaw, Pigeons. Clarion Books, 1997
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Doves and pigeons, domesticated for thousands of years, have been used in the past as sacrifices to gods, raised for food and kept as pets. Pigeons have carried messages across battlefields and from town to town, been couriers of news from distant relatives or reporters, and transported vital medications to dying people. Nowadays tame pigeons are still used to carry messages, but more commonly are raised for racing, meat, scientific experimentation and "white dove" releases at weddings. A few species of doves are raised as pets and the white Ringneck Doves are often used in magic shows. Wild dove and pigeon hunting is still a popular sport. Over 300 species of the family Columbidae, the classification name for doves and pigeons, exist in the world. The United States has nine native and four introduced species of doves or pigeons.