Raising Pet Doves

All information and suggestions on this site are the personal opinions & observations of an experienced Dove home hobbyist and are not intended as professional medical advice. The information provided is to familiarize yourself on how to recognize, avoid & respond to problems BEFORE they occur. If your dove or other bird is ill or injured, you do not have time to read this website and should be contacting a veterinarian, avian veterinarian or veterinary emergency service provider.

Dove Breeds	Pi and Speckles with two of their babies, Squeakers & Patches	Mating
Selection		Eggs
Gender		Dove Babies
Cages		Dove Sounds
Aviaries		Health
Dove Basics		Photos
Feeding		Allergy Help
Hygiene		Links
Nesting		Books
Backyard Birds		Unique Doves
		Emergencies

If your doves, birds or other pets need URGENT medical attention, IMMEDIATELY CONTACT your nearest veterinary or avian hospitals WITHOUT DELAY. Doves and other birds can DIE within a matter of SECONDS! Always seek the advice of a professional for authoritative medical & care instructions.

Doves are very gentle natured birds. They do not bite or screech or cause any harm to other creatures. Doves are mellow, easy to tame & help our environment by eating seeds from weeds such as Ragweed. Doves are very lovable & cuddly creatures that enjoy personal attention and petting. A perfect pet bird for any family. It is difficult to understand why someone would want to hunt and kill such a peaceful creature.

According to the US Fish and Game and the Wildlife management institute, the mortality rate for doves in the wild is more than 58% per year for adults and 69% for juveniles. Life span in the wild is 1.5 years for adults. This is pretty sad since doves lifespan in captivity can exceed 20 years. According to their publications and research, this is indicative of hunting which is responsible for 90% of the deaths and the remaining 10% due to poisons, predators and disease.

Over 70 million doves are killed by hunters in the U.S. each year. It is this type of sanctioned murder that wiped out the entire Passenger Pigeon species in 1914. The beautiful red throated Passenger Pigeons were hunted out of existence just as the decline of the mourning doves is becoming more apparent each year.

Surely it is not a challenge to fire a gun at an innocent, trusting, sitting target and is certainly not something to brag about. There is no skill involved in killing doves. They are docile, peaceful and sedentary. They do not understand violence and do not attempt to flee until it is too late. Perhaps the hunter of Doves would find more challenge in proving their skills at a target range rather than the shame of killing innocent creatures which is neither good sportsmanship nor providing any benefit whatsoever. It is a shameful act of cowardice to kill such a gentle, harmless creature.