2 question on wild and exotic doves :)

hey everyone i have 2 questions ive been meaning to ask the first is what are peoples experiences with wild species of dove and their behavior in captivity as well as observed behavior like mourning, Inca, white winged and non native collard doves. my second question is ive read dove books and heard so much about so many exotic doves like the bleeding hearts or fruit doves, cape doves, zebra etc my question is what happened to them?? ive only ever seen ring neck doves and seldom diamond doves im also curious if anyone on here owns these species and what their experiences are with them thankyou

Hi.. I keep the following species:

Zebra doves
Diamond Doves
Spotted neck doves
Red Turtle dove
Cape doves


I also used to keep Pink Necked and Thick billed pigeons.. which are colourful fruit eating doves.

All the seed eating doves are very easy to care for.. and once you get them breeding their offspring get reasonably tame... so as not to be flighty in the aviary when they know you. But never as tame as domesticated ring neck doves... although I did have some very tame zebra doves that would sit on my finger!

Don't keep the fruit eating species... they are beautiful.. but they have very messy diet... They are really 'dirty' in their aviaries and produce lots of watery stinky poop.. which they splatter about all over the place. Its hard to get a good variety of fruit for them.. and they need lots of additives to the diet like vitamins and minerals.... and its hard to get the balance right for them to stay healthy. I sold mine just due to the mess and time I had to spend cleaning their cages. You have to cut up and give them fresh fruit + the additives on it several times a day.. and the fruit goes bad very quickly.

I really recommend the zebra doves.. they look beautiful.. and have a beautiful song too. Here in Thailand we have big competitions where hundreds of these doves are lined up in cages and judged to see which one sings the best.. and the winners are worth a lot of money!

If you want to keep them you need to join specialist exotic bird clubs in your area. You can find then on the net.. or in pet bird publications in the classified section.

They don't sell them in the normal pet shops.

I have a friend who kept bleeding heart doves.. they did not seem as mess as my fruit doves.. and were really tame.. but I don't know a lot about their care or diets.

wow your doves are beautiful! i love the zebras and the spotted necks! have you ever fostered baby birds with any you have? and i bet it must be interesting with all the native species in Thailand! are the diamond doves very tame?

broody rooster said:

wow your doves are beautiful! i love the zebras and the spotted necks! have you ever fostered baby birds with any you have? and i bet it must be interesting with all the native species in Thailand! are the diamond doves very tame?

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Never fostered any birds.. I just leave them too it usually... I did use some of my bigger fancy pigeons to hatch out bantam chicken eggs.

I hand raised that one diamond dove as it was sick as a squab.. that is why it got so tame. The adults of the diamond doves and other doves are all tame enough to feed from my hand... but they won't sit on my finger or let me touch them.. and I have to move slowly and calmly otherwise they spook easy.

Also its clear them know who I am... as they really get scared it anyone else goes near them... or even if I wear a hat or sunglasses!

Yes, lots of native species here... I like birdwatching and see many birds that are really new to me.

Good luck with your search for exotic doves. They may be really expensive, but they will reproduce just as fast as other doves.. and you can then sell the offspring and ge some of your money back.

has mention exotic dove require special housing and diets . If in cold weather must be heated there is a book on this cannt remember name or author carl something last name started with n try american dove assn. website

ok thankyou very much