Diamond Dove Care as a Pet Bird
Did You Know
- Doves exist in every country and on every continent except Antarctica.
- Doves have a long history with humans, frequently appearing in literature and art dating back to Ancient Sumeria and even being featured in the Bible.
- Male Doves perform a mating dance.
Diamond
Dove Basic Information:-
They are small pigeons with a length
of 19 to 21 cm. Regardless of the gender, they have white spots and black edges
on their wings, orange eyes and red eye-rings. The genders look similar except
the female's eye ring is less vivid and has more of a brown colour to the
plumage. The male's head, neck, and breast are light blue-grey. The bill is a
dark grey colour. The abdomen is a creamy colour while the back and tail is a
brown-grey colour. The legs and feet are pink. The juveniles have a light grey
bill; the iris and eye ring is fawn in colour; the feet and legs are grey; the
breast is grey and they do not possess any white spots on their wings.
Feeding:-
Feed daily and should be of good quality finch seed. Shell grit should be available at all times as it is needed for digestion and calcium. Other daily treats suitable for Diamond Doves includes: hard boiled egg crushed including the shell, sweet potatoes, shredded carrot and chopped greens. Fresh water should also be available at all times and checked daily as Diamond Doves seem to enjoy soiling their water. If possible it is recommended that a water container with a cover or dispenser used to help avoid contamination.
Breeding:-
Feeding:-
Feed daily and should be of good quality finch seed. Shell grit should be available at all times as it is needed for digestion and calcium. Other daily treats suitable for Diamond Doves includes: hard boiled egg crushed including the shell, sweet potatoes, shredded carrot and chopped greens. Fresh water should also be available at all times and checked daily as Diamond Doves seem to enjoy soiling their water. If possible it is recommended that a water container with a cover or dispenser used to help avoid contamination.
Breeding:-
These are one of the doves that is dimorphic, meaning it can be sexed visually. It generally takes several together in order to tell the difference between the male and female, but the male will have a noticeably larger orange ring circling the eye. This difference, however, does not become apparent until they are about 6 months old so younger birds will be difficult to determine.
Though Diamond Doves are not as prolific as the Ringnecks, they will breed in either a large cage or an aviary. They will need a nest, an open canary nest will work fine. Provide nesting materials such as dried grass and small twigs.
They female will lay two eggs which will hatch in 13 - 14 days. Be sure to remove the young when they are weaned as the parents may start attacking them in an attempt to run them off. They do make very good foster parents for the young of other similar sized doves
Activities:-
The Diamond Dove gets its exercise through short flights about the aviary. If kept in a cage, the larger the better so they can get some exercise there too.
