Enticing doves to nest in my yard

[bhawk-23]

Hello! My DS has decided he loves pigeons and doves!! We have to look for and feed them whenever we are near the city

I’ve done some research on adoption, housing (inside vs outside and with or without chickens) and started on bird diseases. My flock has MG and MD. I am unclear if this is transferred to the pigeons ant this time. Right now is not ideal though so I decided to just hold off on the idea.

BUT!

We now have 2 doves that have taken a liking to the platform bird feeder. I even saw a third one today. My question is, can (or should) we make our yard ideal for them to nest in? If yes, how do we go about doing this?

Any offered advice is greatly appreciated. My son will be over the moon if we can get them to stay!

Horrible pictures but….

 

[SmiYa0126]

Hi! If you have a covered porch you can hang a hanging basket for them to nest in.

 

[bhawk-23]

Hi! If you have a covered porch you can hang a hanging basket for them to nest in.

My dad used to get them all the time in his hanging baskets.
I have overhangs on my coop but not the patio area. I do have a corner location in the patio area we could build a shelter/overhang and hang a basket under it but it never gets sun so I wasn’t sure if that is ideal. I know the chickens love the sun!

 

[bhawk-23]

We are going to build nesting boxes (similar to the pictures) and place them in a couple locations.

Out of curiosity, one of the pictures I’m attaching has the nest box on a window so you can see in the nest. Has anyone ever seen this actually work?

I hope we are not too late to set up a nesting site!

 

[Qwerty3159]

That’s correct, those are the type of nest structures you want to use for wild doves. A location under a covered porch or hidden near an eve is best. Putting the platform on a window like that could work. There is a chance doing so would stress the parent doves out, but I think an even better reason to not have it on the window like that is the nest would be in full view of any hawk flying by, they love to eat doves and raid their nests.

 

[SmiYa0126]

I would only put that kind of nest against a window where you don't use a room much, so that you don't turn on the lights.

 

[bhawk-23]

That’s correct, those are the type of nest structures you want to use for wild doves. A location under a covered porch or hidden near an eve is best. Putting the platform on a window like that could work. There is a chance doing so would stress the parent doves out, but I think an even better reason to not have it on the window like that is the nest would be in full view of any hawk flying by, they love to eat doves and raid their nests.

Thank you. We will be building a couple varieties today and placing them in different areas to see if they choose one. Hawks are definitely on our mind having chickens. We actually have a perfect location, but we are covering it with a hawk nest today to increase safety for our girls. I would attempt to leave an opening for the doves but I think that is too risky for the doves having a quick and easy access. Though it would keep them safe from aerial attacks

I would only put that kind of nest against a window where you don't use a room much, so that you don't turn on the lights.

Really good thought about the lights! And one I did not consider I was thinking about low traffic but the light could not be avoided. That one is out. lol

 

[bhawk-23]

So we built the nest box and soon realized any place we thought it would work really was not good. The doves were back this morning but I think the location is just not a great one. I will keep a feeder filled with seeds they like to keep them coming back.

A couple of questions for searching new locations. Are squirrels a threat to their eggs and young? Are mating pairs territorial? And how tolerant of traffic are they?

I guess we will be experimenting this season to see if they stick around for us to enjoy

 

[Qwerty3159]

Are squirrels a threat to their eggs and young? Are mating pairs territorial? And how tolerant of traffic are they?

1. Within reason yes. They still won’t work as hard to get into a bird’s nest as they will a feeder though.
2. Yes, two pairs definitely won’t appreciate being nested side by side but they can be relatively close.
3. Depends on the doves, the less the better

 

[bhawk-23]

Update: We built the box Monday evening, saw the 2 doves while building it. Both were back Tuesday morning and evening and we only saw 1 dove Wednesday morning.

We have not seen them again. I do not believe the nest box could be the culprit, it is too far from the feeder. I have stayed in the house mostly and only let the dogs out 2-3 times during the day yesterday. Super bummed. They were here regularly for a couple weeks and now they are gone. Maybe they will be back. But right now we are sad

I need to keep repeating “We do not need to adopt pigeons…. We do not need to adopt pigeons…. We do not need pigeons!!”

Unless….. they can live with the hens and be left for a weekend every so often for traveling hockey. We have their free range area netted but a pigeon could definitely sneak out, we’ve just made it difficult for hawks to get in. If a pigeon flew off I’d worry they couldn’t find their way back in.

Unless……we adopted ones that could not fly? Would they stray far? Climb trees? Be attacked by squirrels? Squirrels are the only mammals to regularly scavenge with the girls. I’d think any pigeon with an impairment would have to be inside though.

Ugh…”We do not need to adopt pigeons!!” The struggle is real