*Update* Finally Caught the White Dove

[Chickenfan4life]

Finally caught the white dove that has been hanging around our yard. She was right up by our back door this morning. i sat and watched and she finally went inside our duck pen, which has aviary netting above it, then into their coop. So i was able to close her in then catch her. i tried to be as gentle as possible. Now she's in our house in a parakeet flight cage, with food and water. Giving her some time to be calm.

i guess i need to learn how to best keep doves. And then, how to sex them, as i don't know if this is a girl or boy. Anyhow, here is a picture, finally.

How cool! And s/he's so pretty, too!!!

 

[Hokum Coco]

It might be possible the doves were nesting and that is why you only see a solitary dove. You should catch the mate fairly easy now if that is the case. Glad for you and it. Hope the other one turns up.

 

[Enchanted Sunrise Farms]

Yes, I am concerned that the other one is on a nest somewhere. If I see her/him I can put the cage with this one in the duck pen and hopefully it will go inside, too. I just hope there aren't babies somewhere that will suffer.

 

[Hokum Coco]

I love their call!
Here is a link to give you an idea of courtship and mating rituals for doves:

 

[Enchanted Sunrise Farms]

Thank you for the link. I love the cooing of doves. I'm thinking of putting a mirror in the cage with this dove to see if it will do the male coo. I kinda think its a female, though.

 

[Hokum Coco]

Good luck with the mirror.
I do not know anything about doves.
However Pigeons are the only bird that can decipher that a mirror is in fact it's own reflection.

 

[Enchanted Sunrise Farms]

i just played a video on my iPhone of a dove mating call for her, and she freaked out. i think she was scared. Need to get that larger kennel today and set it up for her. Ultimately, want to build a nice aviary, and get her a friend. There must be a thread here on dove and pigeon pens and coops.

That's interesting about the mirror and pigeons. i guess they are smarter than people think.

 

[bigrob83]

glad you caught him/her
sexing them is a easy process
flip it over tail away from you and feel the pelvis as it goes out to the tail
males make a v coming to a "point"
females the pelvis is open enough to pass a egg.

they make lots of interesting calls once you get more you will hear the best noise of them all
I call it the scary clown chuckle. when a dove flies to a group of doves they make a weird laugh

careful what you wish for. we bought 2 mating pairs of doves and over 3 years those two pair multiplied out to over a hundred
every year we sell about 30 just to keep the aviary thinned out

 

[Mary Of Exeter]

What a lucky dove! White ones usually do not last long on their own.

 

[Enchanted Sunrise Farms]

Ha, ha! i have finally heard the scary clown chuckle in person! i started another thread about it, but did get a pair of ringneck doves today. The young girl selling them for her mother didn't know much about them, or what sex they were. They were being kept in the tiniest cage, i couldn't leave them there. These two clown chuckled and cooed the whole way home.

i will try checking the pelvic bone area tomorrow, when i have a chance to really look them over. Now to build that aviary in the backyard!