does any one keep mourning doves as pets

[KWAK]

I was given a baby mourning dove whowas just starting to grow feathers... s/he is now starting to fly and is very tame, wont let me go any where with out it!
what is your expierience withthem?

 

[FireTigeris]

I don't have any because its illegal in most/all of the USA to own native migratory birds w/o special permits, I don't have the extra time for the classes or the money to mantain the permits.

A wildlife plce might know but I bet they are like all other grain eating doves.

(not only grain that's just a nickname, but grain as in pigeons opposed to fruit like diamond doves)

 

[DuranAndy]

Quote:
Diamond doves are seed eaters too.

 

[pheasantfreak]

where i live you can own them because there is so many anyway

 

[abluechipstock]

Wild bird seed is good for them to eat, guess they would be just like regular doves with care and husbandry.

 

[Hoss1975]

They are illegal to keep in all 50 states,they are protected under the federal migratory bird act.It is a federal crime to keep them,there is no place in the US that you can legally keep them.

 

[FireTigeris]

Quote:
Diamond doves are seed eaters too.

Sorry, you are right, don't know why I was lead to believe differently...


http://www.fws.gov/laws/lawsdigest/migtrea.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Migratory_Bird_Treaty_Act_of_1918

Partial Listing of Covered Species
American Black Vulture Coragyps atratus, one of the species covered under the treaty.

The following is a sampling of some of the more commonly known birds of the over 800 species covered under the treaty:

Bald Eagle, Haliaeetus leucocephalus
Black-capped Chickadee, Parus atricapillus
American Black Vulture, Coragyps atratus
Northern Cardinal, Cardinalis cardinalis
Cedar Waxwing, Bombycilla cedrorum
Cliff Swallow, Hirundo pyrrhonota
Barn Owl, Tyto alba
Barn Swallow, Hirundo rustica
Common Nighthawk, Chordeiles minor
Downy Woodpecker, Picoides pubescens
Gray Catbird, Dumetella carolinensis
Mourning Dove, "Zenaida macroura"
Northern Mockingbird, Mimus polyglottos
Red-tailed Hawk, Buteo jamaicensis
Red-winged Blackbird, Agelaius phoeniceus
Swamp Sparrow, Melospiza georgiana
Turkey Vulture, Cathartes aura
American Crow, Corvus brachyrhynchos
Common Raven, Corvus corax
Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Archilochus colubris
Canada Goose, Branta canadensis

 

[DuranAndy]

Quote:
You can keep birds protected under the Migratory Bird Act, but you have to get a permit. Even raptors such as hawks can be kept with special permits.

 

[Mary Of Exeter]

If you get your federal wildlife rehab license, you can rehab (and keep if they are imprinted, as they wouldn't do any good in the wild at that point) protected birds.

 

[pheasantfreak]

either way i have my federal permit