Hello~

[Koilada]

Greetings, my name is Madeleine, and I've owned birds all my life - well, five birds, really, but all parrots until today.

The first one, Birdo (so named after the Galah in the movie, Napoleon) was, as you could assume from my little comment there, was a Galah. He was around from before I was born until November last year, when he passed away from a tumor that could not be removed. He was 41 years old, and although I only knew him for twenty, he was a constant in my life since birth and he is missed dearly.

I owned a second Galah for seven years while I had Birdo, a female named Porsha. She was a rescue, crash-landed as a juvenile and could no longer fly. We gave her away to a family friend and fellow bird owner during the eight year. The two birds suddenly began displaying aggressive behaviors toward each other, and Porsha ended up ripping a hole in Birdo's chest before we found a sufficient separate aviary to house her. Porsha's still around today and she's doing fine.

The third was a Cockatiel named Lotte. He came into the picture when my mother started dating, and moved in with, her now-husband eight years ago. I'm not sure how old he was when he died, but he was elderly and died of natural causes three years back.


Just today I broke my parrot trend and brought home two Diamond Doves. I'd missed having birds around since Birdo passed, and made the decision to bring them into my life again. They're both unnamed at current, but I have a female and one of unknown sex, but possibly a young male. The size of his eyerings seem to be in the middle of what's commonly seen in both sexes - though definitely bigger than the female's - which is part of the confusion (if anyone with more dove experience is willing to take a gander, I'll post a couple of pictures for you). I don't have specific intentions to breed so if he turns out to be female as well, I won't be too chuffed.


As for other animals, I currently own two dogs, a cat, two Blue Tongue Skinks, an Elephant Ear Betta and two horses. In the past I've owned goats, alpacas and silkworms. Pets, pets everywhere! :pinkgrin:


Anyway, it's nice to meet you all!

[Casper's 2nd best friend]

Hi Madelaine and welcome, it was very interesting to read about your previous birds and I look forward to hearing more about your diamond doves.
We have a pair Collared Doves visit our garden most days, they are very graceful birds who seem curious to know why I have a parrot on my shoulder.

[PlaxMacaws]

Hello Madeleine... Welcome to our community. Thank you for sharing your background with us concerning Birdo, Porsha, and Lotte. The thought of losing a beloved feathered companion is very disturbing for me :(. But Birdo was certainly with your family for a long while!

I personally have no experience with Diamond Doves. But feel free to post the photos. Perhaps another member who knows something about them will chime in.

Thanks kindly for joining us :D

[The Pinkertons]

Hello Madeleine, Welcome to our Community. Reading your history brought back memories of my Galah (Kiwi) she was my best bird buddy for 30 years...She flew to Rainbow Bridge last August, I still and will always miss her dearly.

I can connect with you on many aspects through-out my lifetime living in the company of many types of animals. You name it, we most likely have had it !From Horses, Monkeys, Raccoons, Goats, Dogs, different Species of birds.

My Parents had a Thoroughbred Horse Racing boarding & Breeding Farm in Fort Lauderdale Florida They were in the business of Thoroughbred Racing. Animals have always been a significant part of my life.

Anyway getting back to your Doves. Doves I've Had in the past' were naturally docile and somewhat tame, they were white doves, so I can only relate to that as far as taming goes.
Once Again, Welcome to: Precisely Parrots

P.S. I've always been infatuated with The Land Down-Under :loveit:

[Mare]

Welcome, Madeleine! My only experience with a dove was one I found on the road that had been hit by a car somewheres in front of me, driving home one day. I took care of it and set it free but remember it having such a kindness to it..NOTHING like a parrot. Did you bring your doves home from a breeder?..are they that young? I look forward to hearing all about them :)

[wingman]

Hello and Welcome!!!����

[Lady]

Hi Madeleine,

Nice to meet you. :pp_welcome: Birdo, Porcha and Lotte sound like they all were deeply loved. Sometimes we need some space before we decide to get another companion again. I'm glad you broke the trend and found some beautiful doves to share your life. Of course all your other pets are great too, but their is something extra wonderful about having birds.

My big brother had dove's when I was very young. I'm not sure the type we have here flying about outside but I know they make a soft cooing sound, and when they fly it sounds as if their wings need oiling. Beautiful creatures indeed.
I'm looking forward to hearing what it is like raising them. I'm guessing you will come up with some names for them as well.

[Koilada]

Thank you everyone :th_biggrin:

I've finally given names to the doves. The brown female is Faline, and the blue is Rei. They're both from a breeder, and Faline's two weeks over six months, and Rei is a week younger. They've both been hand-raised and are perfectly fine being handled, although Faline's a little shy, most likely because she's in a strange place at the moment. I expect she'll come into her own after she gets used to her new home. Rei was a little shy at first, but he's gotten over it a lot quicker and is currently content to fly out of the cage sit on my arm or hand as I walk around the house, and he'll sometimes answer my calls if I whistle to him.

Here's a picture of Rei sitting on the sink. Faline's the one in my avatar.

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[kendrafitz]

Hi and welcome!!!

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

[bill-e]

Welcome! They are cute and don't look like they would bite too hard ;)

[PlaxMacaws]

Thanks for the photos, Madeleine. How do Faline and Rei regard one another? Do they get along well? And do they appear to be affected when one is moved a distance away from the other?

[Lady]

Nice pic and cute names too!

[The Pinkertons]

I was at the pet supply yesterday ...They had Diamond Doves for sale their very pretty , they remind of Button Quail in size.

[Koilada]

Thanks for the photos, Madeleine. How do Faline and Rei regard one another? Do they get along well? And do they appear to be affected when one is moved a distance away from the other?

They get along very well. They nestle in together on their perches in the cage and like to hang around each other. Faline's the more clingy one, whereas Rei's fine moving off on his own. The cage door acts as a landing pad (I tie a piece of cardboard onto it with zip-ties so the bars don't hurt their feet, since they're not parrots and can't hold onto bars as they do) and it's always open during the day so they both can come and go as they please. Rei has taken a liking to coming out and settling on top of my monitor to watch me while I'm on the computer. Faline, at the moment, is more comfortable in the cage. She can see him through the bars and she's usually fine in there on her own, but if she calls for him, I put him back in with her, to which he'll stay with her for a couple of minutes then leave again. Faline came out onto the landing pad for the first time today, though. Hopefully her shyness will dampen in time - it's only been two days, after all.


At the moment I'm trying to find a suitable wicker basket to act as a nest, since I've heard doves like to sleep in them at night. Haven't had much luck, though. All the ones I've seen in stores are either too big or too deep. I'm considering just ordering a mock-nest off the web.

[The Pinkertons]

How interesting . So is it only specific to Diamond Doves, like Diamond Dove sleeping nest?

[PlaxMacaws]

At the moment I'm trying to find a suitable wicker basket to act as a nest, since I've heard doves like to sleep in them at night. Haven't had much luck, though. All the ones I've seen in stores are either too big or too deep. I'm considering just ordering a mock-nest off the web.Or you could always take a wicker basket that's too deep and cut off some of its top to reduce its depth. Thanks for sharing :)

[Dragonlady2]

Hi Madeleine, welcome to the forum! I owned diamond doves briefly and I truly loved them. Loved their looks, their sounds, their size. I had six of them in a flight cage. I was like you and put a nest in for them and the little beggars began laying eggs. There were three birds all sitting on top of each other in the nest. Two chicks hatched and then there were 9 eggs. Apparently they can lay eggs every 4 weeks. I got fake eggs and just could not throw out their eggs so I found a breeder that was quite happy to have them. I was sad to see them go.....I could never be a breeder, too much stress.
If your other bird is a male, he will start courting the female by bow cooing. He will bow down in front of her, spread his tail feathers in a fan and coo to her
They have a lovely coo, you will really enjoy them.

[The Pinkertons]

Helena I could never be able to give up the babies. I agree that I would be to stressed also.

:breeders:

[Dragonlady2]

Suzanne, it wasn't only about giving up the babies, but the thought that I was destroying a potential chick by throwing out the egg was killing me. As well, I am not a breeder. I really was not knowledgable enough about the dietary needs of the egg layers and how to address potential issues. They were safer with someone with experience. The breeder turned out to be the partner of the breeder I had gotten 5 of my birds from. I had no clue he bred doves, pheasants, peacocks. I know where they are and that they are well taken care of and that's what mattered to me.
But they are beautiful, gentle little birds.

[Penny]

Welcome. Your doves are just beautiful! I love their soft warm colors.

[The Pinkertons]

But they are beautiful, gentle little birds. They sure are, I hear ya... sort of like culling a litter of puppy's or kittens

I wonder why we as humans are ok with pulling chicken eggs.

I like the little California Quail also

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[Lady]

There are some great DIY projects for making baskets, even ones out of newspaper... just do a quick search and you will find quite a few :D.