Enticing doves to nest in my yard

[bhawk-23]

Hello, back at trying to find a good nest and location to entice our frequent feeding doves in our yard. We have multiple doves using our feeders now, sometimes up to 5 or 6 in our yard at a time! Over the winter 2 were killed by a juvenile red tailed hawk that watched our feeders but we also feed crows who frequent our yard and are a great alarm system for the birds.

Side note: the doves that were killed ignored the warning and just sat perched on the platform feeder while every other possible food item scattered. Can they be a little slow sometimes?

Trying to find a sheltered low traffic place is proving to be difficult. I’ll be placing different styles through the back and side yards and on the front porch. Wish me luck!

It’s been a challenging year starting with Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever last June and ending up with severe medical issues by Thanksgiving. I’m still not fully recovered. Watching the doves feed in our yard was such a highlight when I was stuck in the house. It’s really difficult to not adopt a special needs couple I found but I know I do not need more on my plate right now. Hopefully I can continue watching them in my yard.

Any and all suggestions are always welcome! Especially if there are certain dove specific foods/mixes anyone has found to be the best for feeding. We are still experimenting with this. I’d prefer to find a mix that is both nutritional and enticing for them.

 

[Gill-b]

Wish me luck!

Wishing you the best of luck (...especially since it is St. Patrick's Day, so Irish luck te ye!).

Unfortunately, I don't think I have any constructive advice for you at present. Where I live, which is in a residential area, garden pigeons and doves are in abundance; and we can find them nesting wherever there is a tree or ledge in the neighbourhood. So the only thing I can share with you which may be of some help, is that the nesting birds (Sparrows included) seem to get use to the normal daily human traffic while building the nest, and this maybe sets the standard of traffic they can handle by which they decide to stay?
Here they can handle a lot of human movement, including cars pulling in and out of the driveway right under their nests. So maybe try not to overthink where to place the nesting boxes as it could be that the birds will be happy to just have a dry spot to nest?

 

[Gill-b]

I find this to be a coincidence... After posting my previous message on this thread, I went outside to find a hatched egg shell under one of our trees. I looked up into the tree to discover a Turtle dove sitting on a nest that I had previously no idea was there. Now the thing is, that over the weekend, I had been on a ladder under that tree, trimming the branches back... and I was not going about it in a subtle way... totally oblivious to the Turtle dove nest. This just goes to show how tolerant doves can be of human activity.

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The tree that the dove nest is in, is the one in the above picture, just above my fingers, on the other side of our property wall.

I want to add that having an off-the-ground birdbath is also a good way to attract pigeons and doves. My birdbath, seen at the bottom of the picture below, is a hive of activity. Also seen in the picture below: in the foreground, hanging from a tree branch, is my double decker bird feeder; in the top right-hand corner is a juvenile Weaver bird's practice nest building effort; midway on the left-hand side is a bird nesting box which I made and has only been up for one season so no birds in there yet; midway on the right-hand side is my bedroom window; and in the middle of the picture, looking very green, is the tree again that the Turtle dove and nest is in. The darkish patch on the right-hand side of that tree is where I trimmed back a lot of the lower branches over the weekend.

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[bhawk-23]

Doves and pigeons are around but not in abundance in my area. I have placed a few baskets in trees but hubs is not fully on board to attach the platform type house we made to our house, which is where the safest location from hawks would be.

A more permanent raised bird bath is a good idea. Currently, I place a large roasting pan with fresh water when the chickens are free ranging but in the evenings (summer) I can see doves using it for drinks.

I am looking to rearrange our bird feeders. I have a platform feeder for crows (helps with hawks) and a hanging platform for the doves. But hubs put up another for all other birds and now hawks are frequenting the feeders more often. I will take that one down and move the dove feeder to a better location for safety.

I really need to just adopt a special needs one. I’ve seen a few that I believe I can give a good home to. Then I can have them inside to appreciate and cuddle all the time! I’m hinting more and more to get hubs used to that idea

 

[Gill-b]

It could be that once you have adopted a dove, other doves may be attracted when hearing it cooing?

Please keep me updated. I would enjoy seeing a picture of your adopted dove.

 

[bhawk-23]

It could be that once you have adopted a dove, other doves may be attracted when hearing it cooing?

Please keep me updated. I would enjoy seeing a picture of your adopted dove.

It will be awhile. I asked hubs (checking to see if he is warming to the idea yet) if he would rather come home to a shipment of Fayoumi chicks or an adopted house dove/pigeon. The fayoumi chicks won that round.

I’ve researched how to convert part of our coop, that does not get used, into a pigeon/dove area. I would love to adopt a wild pigeon/dove married couple who were rescued and unable to be released back. Ideally they can be indoor/outdoor where they are tolerant of winters in the outdoor setup but friendly enough to come inside and hang out with us. We could get special needs birds (maybe they cannot fly, lost an eye/leg etc) and cannot fend for themselves. They will have a safe predator proof, weather sheltering coop, plenty of food and social interaction with us. Wishful thinking. I’ve been brainstorming ideas for 2 years now, I am worried an outdoor living space would not make them happy. But hubs is just not getting on board with a full-time house bird, yet.

 

[townchicks]

Domestic ring neck doves make good house pets, they are raised in captivity and have been for centuries. I have two pairs myself and they are relatively tame, although they don't really like to be handled, I can. They do seem to enjoy being talked to and also get chatty when music plays or the TV is on. A wild dove may not do well in a cage, I'm not sure. You can look for a wildlife rescue in your area and ask about volunteering. Most of the rescues will euthanize unreleasable birds because they don't do well in captivity. Exceptions seem to be raptors, because they are used in educational programs. My doves, Hank, and Violet.

 

[townchicks]

It could be that once you have adopted a dove, other doves may be attracted when hearing it cooing?

Please keep me updated. I would enjoy seeing a picture of your adopted dove.

My experience has been the opposite, I have a pair of domestic doves that live in a large cage outside. The doves are territorial, the cooing is how they tell others "this is.my place". Since the doves went outside, the wild mourning doves stay away from that area. They still come to the farther parts of the yard anyway, because there are seeds there.