Baby Dove Update Number 7

I took these photos the other morning while cleaning out the bird cages. While it's apparent to me that these babies are going to be quite beautiful in the near future, I don't think they're quite ready yet for the "Want Ad Digest" photos. And that goes doubly for the ungainly little albino baby, shown here at 18 days old. He or she is growing, but slowly in spite of the parents' good feeding. And yet I still hope that in the end, he'll be the ugly duckling (doveling?) that turned into a beautiful "swan:"

The albino's nest mate at 19 days old is beginning to look like a real dove and is exhibiting a nice pied coloration. You can see the widening difference in size between the two babies:

Here's a rear view of the 19 day old baby Ringneck Dove:

The two babies from nest 1 are at this point 21 days old and looking more like real Ringneck Doves:

Their pied coloration is developing nicely. This is a relatively unusual and sought after color, so I am hopeful that someone will want these little beauties:

I believe I'll advertise them in one more week. At the rate they are growing, I'll be stuck with several more cages of doves if I don't find them a good home. But they're lovely colors and quite tame and accustomed to being handled, so I should think that they'll do well:

Baby Dove Update Number 6

I uncovered the bird cages one morning and was amazed to see that the 16 day old baby doves in nest #1 were perching with their parents and no longer occupying their nest. On the very next day, I saw them picking up seed off the floor of the cage. When I said that they grow rapidly, I really meant it!:

The two 16 day old babies from nest #1 are developing lovely pied coloration, though with with two different shades of brown. They are going to be stunning:

Here they are on their perch:

And in hand:

And now on to nest #2. The older, 14 day old baby is also becoming a pied, though with more delicate shading. The younger, 13 day old baby is apparently a true albino but appears to be healthy:

At 13 and 14 days of age they still have that homely squab look to them. I'm counting on them developing into lovely, graceful doves so that I can find them good homes:

Baby Dove Update Number 5

Well, I'll interrupt the travel posts for another baby dove update. These first two babies are from nest 2. They are, at this point, 9 and 10 days old as there was a delay of one day between their hatching. Just look at the size of those wings!:

You may recall that the second baby was born nearly naked and quite fragile looking. He (or she) lived and appears to be doing well enough, but is falling behind the growth of his nest mate. He is also quite shy and tries to hide his head beneath his sibling. But he is now developing white feathers:

I see some color on the bigger baby, so that one will likely be a pied. The smaller baby is still a mystery. Most white doves are not albinos, though at first glance they even have red eyes. I compared this baby to his white mother. Her eye has an orange iris with a black pupil. But this baby has pure pink eyes. I checked the internet and learned that one sign of a true albino chick is that they are born totally naked, without even baby fuzz. So it now appears that's what we have. I also learned that they tend to be less hardy than other doves and are prone to vision problems, especially if kept in bright sunlight. This baby should thrive as someone's pet, however. At least I'll hope so:

And here's all four babies from both nests. From top to bottom, they are 12 days old, 12 days old, 10 days old, 9 days old:

The 12 day old babies from nest 1 are now becoming little birds and beginning to show their colors. This one is becoming a fawn and white pied, a lovely dove some day:

The two babies from nest 1 are similar, but the dark patches on one of them are fawn, and on the other are a darker brown:

And they fill up the nest. Any day now they'll break out and begin roosting with their parents:

I find it fascinating to watch these babies with their rapid rates of growth and array of colors. Their parents are devoted and work tirelessly to get these youngsters out and on their own. It's a shame that they're not more popular pets than they are. I suppose their rapid reproduction rate and loud cooing are among the drawbacks to wider acceptance. Well, I'll keep you updated as the babies grow. It won't take long before they're all grown at the rate they're going:

Meet The Doves

It's been several years now since I walked into the Rensselaer Pet Bird Store and saw what I still swear was a pair of lemon yellow Ringneck Doves. I went back to buy them, but by then they'd already been sold. The internet indicates that there are no doves that color and the owner of he store couldn't remember what color they were. Nevertheless, I was intrigued with the animals and began to read up on them. I then found a pair of male doves, raised together because they were brothers, for sale in Amsterdam. I bought them and the seller gave me an old parrot cage in which to keep them. Then I found a flock of white Ringneck Doves and bought two females. The seller couldn't sex them, but having had pigeons for years and years, I felt pretty sure that I could do it. I turned out to have been right.

I bought another cage and set my doves up as couples. They began nesting immediately and I was fascinated. They seemed so friendly. When I let them out, they'd often land on my shoulder. They let me handle their babies. I began to think that Ringneck Doves must be darn near perfect pets. So I ordered two fancy colored doves all the way from Nebraska.

They had more and more babies and I quickly learned that there isn't much of a market for Ringneck Doves. So I bought wooden eggs and began substituting them for the real thing to keep the population explosion from sinking me. All has been fine ever since, but this past week I began allowing my two pairs of fancy doves to begin nests.

So here's the first pair:
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The one with the "silky" feathers is a fancy male dove with pied coloration. He's exceptionally gentle and tame. His partner is a pink eyed white female who was one of my original doves. She's also extraordinarily gentle and, in fact, requires a gentle male who won't be mean to her:

This is my pied silky. He came from Nebraska as a peace offering. I'd ordered two doves and the seller felt guilty for taking so long to ship them, so he threw in this silky as a bonus:

The other pair who have begun a nest are this pied female on the left and this "wild pied" male on the right:

Both of these doves came from Nebraska. The female was very young and always gentle. The male was quite skittish when he arrived but has become much more trusting and gentle:

I let my doves and parakeet out to fly around my room each morning while I clean their cages and fill their seed and water cups. They are gentle, but I've come to believe it is less a matter of their good intentions than of simple stupidity. They not only land on my shoulder but also fly directly and stupidly right into the side of my head. Let's just say they're no rocket scientists:

Both pairs now have nests in progress, two eggs in each nest. I'll take photos and post updates as the families progress. In the meantime, let me know if any of your friends would like to buy a baby dove: