Dove
The rock dove is the most common type of pigeon. The habitats in ancient times were the north of Africa, the South and the Center of Europe. Over time, the species began to be domesticated and spread to all corners of the world.
Dove
Exterior
The rock pigeon breed is subdivided into:
- wild individuals;
- synanthropic representatives, that is, those that live and nest in the immediate vicinity of a person.
Pigeons living in urban settings are characterized by a wide variety of colors. The external description of the Dove is as follows:
- body length is 30-36 cm;
- body weight - about 370 g, with good contentment in urban conditions it can be more;
- eyes can be golden or red;
- beak with a slightly blunt tip, medium length;
- the feather is thick, attached to the upper layer of the skin, therefore it often falls off;
- the plumage is gray with a purple, greenish or metallic sheen.
For wild individuals, a lighter color of plumage is characteristic. There is a black stripe on the wings. Synanthropic individuals have a more varied color, among them there are chocolate, blue, white-tailed, snow-white birds. Both varieties are distinguished by the unusual structure of the auricles hidden under the feathers. Thanks to this structure, sounds are available to pigeons that humans cannot hear.
The wild rock dove prefers to live on rocky cliffs, so it is very rare to see it on the branches of trees. Synanthropic birds are more adapted to branches, however, they still more often walk on the ground or sit on roofs and all kinds of cornices. When the Rock Pigeon moves on foot, it moves its head back and forth to focus its vision. Visually, a pigeon can distinguish almost any color.
The rock dove is an excellent flyer. It can reach a speed of about 100 km / h. The bird rises into the air vertically. Perfectly oriented in space, capable of flying home from a distance of tens of thousands of kilometers.
Features of behavior and habitat
For wild birds, the characteristic habitat is open area, rocky cliffs, steppes. In African countries, they can often be found in desert oases. The area of distribution of the wild dove is the northern part of Africa, just above the Sahara, South and Center of Europe, Asia.
Semi-domestic birds settle in a wider area. They can be found anywhere in the world. For nesting sites, attics and abandoned construction sites, uncrowded and quiet places where predators have no access are selected.
In natural habitat, the enemies of the Dove are birds from the order of hawks, owls and owls. Nests are often ravaged by ferrets, martens, lynxes, and a pigeon can also be caught by a fox or raccoon. For city dwellers, cats, crows, jackdaws, rats are dangerous. The need to constantly be on the alert and the ability to distinguish sounds inaccessible to other ears made the pigeon's dream very sensitive. At the slightest danger, they immediately wake up and take off.
The rock dove can migrate over short distances. When it gets colder, he moves to where it is warmer. In cold areas, it descends from the mountains to the lowlands. In urban conditions, with the onset of cold weather, it moves closer to human housing or garbage dumps.
Dove Dove is rather strongly attached to its home. In a familiar place, he can breed chicks for several years in a row. This feature became beneficial to a person when they began to use pigeon mail. Often, birds live in twos, but they form flocks for food.
What do they eat
The rock dove is not a whimsical bird in the choice of food at all. This is due to the fact that it has very few taste buds in its mouth. For the most part, the basis of the diet is plant food. The bird eats beetles and midges only by accident when pecking grains and bread from the ground. Wild sisari feed on the seeds of various plants. Often they fly in flocks on wheat and corn fields. They also like to eat fruits and berries.
Semi-domestic pigeons often feed on garbage. Birds fly to the city dumps and get their own food there. People often feed them with seeds and bread crumbs. If you bring food to the same place for a couple of days in a row, then soon they themselves will begin to arrive at the appointed time in this area. They have excellent memory.
Rock pigeons form flocks in search of food. They do not have a clear order, so the flock easily disintegrates and a new one is formed. Even in a flock, birds are often kept in pairs. Observing them, you can see that the pigeon and the dove share food with each other and do not let other pigeons get too close to them.
Reproduction
A pair for creating a pigeon family is formed once and for all. The beginning of the mating season falls on the last days of February – early March. The pigeon first finds a place for a nest, and then looks for a dove for itself. The pair often consists of birds with approximately the same temperament.
Those who have heard at least once how the male cooed will never confuse these sounds with anything. Through its voice, the dove communicates its intentions to the dove. In addition, the male fluffs up his tail, performs a kind of mating dance. However, the final choice lies with the female. No matter how much the male cooes, if he is not to the taste of the dove, she will never mate with him.
Courtship procedure
At the courtship ceremony, the male does all the work. The task of the female is only to appreciate the gentleman and agree to form a pair or reject an unlucky partner. Pigeons do not have instant mating; the beginning of the process is preceded by a marriage ceremony. For some time, the male circles over his girlfriend, pursuing her everywhere.
The male has feathers fluffed up in the neck area. The dove tilts its head to the ground and opens its wings. Often performs an upright stance, stretching out on the paws and fanning the tail. Such a dance accompanies cooing all the time.
After the female accepts the courtship of the partner, they become a couple officially, showing this by their behavior when they are in the flock. They very carefully clean each other's feathers, touch with their beaks.
Nesting
When a pair is formed, the pigeon with special zeal protects the territory where the nest is located, as well as its female. If another male appears, he tries to close the chosen one and take her away from him. The most aggressive ones arrange fights with strangers.
Females of this breed are always attached to one partner. Even when a bird is stolen or crossed with another male, it will still return to its old mate. The couple makes the nest together. The female sits and obediently waits for the partner to bring her material for the nest, which she then carefully lays down and forms a house.
Offspring care
After 2 weeks after mating, the female lays an egg, after a couple of days - the second. The size of the eggs is about 2 cm.The shell color can be blue or beige. Gray pigeons incubate their chicks in turn. Often there is a pigeon in the nest during the day, and a dove at night. Mom spends more time in the nest.
The pigeon sits on the eggs so that the female has the opportunity to eat. If she lingers too long, he makes characteristic sounds, urging her to return back to the nest. Chicks are born with a difference of 10 to 48 hours. After birth, they emit a quiet squeak. Chicks are born without plumage, therefore they need constant heating.
For the first 25 days, the chicks feed on bird milk, which is produced in the crop of both parents. From day 25, soaked grains are added to the diet. Feeding with milk can last 1.5-2 months. Often during this period, the female already begins to incubate the next chicks. If the pigeon is already sitting on the eggs, the male continues to feed the previous pigeons on his own.
The pigeons leave the nest on the 45th day. At this point, their appearance is almost the same as that of sexually mature individuals. During the period from the beginning of the mating season to the end of summer, a couple can give birth to up to 8 broods. Everything will depend on the environment in which the family lives and on the availability and quality of feed. In an urban environment, the Gray pigeon lives for 3 years, in conditions of home keeping, their age reaches 15 years.
Impact on human life
This type of bird warns of danger and can be useful in many aspects of human life. So, for example, at a time when there were absolutely no communications, the Blue Pigeon was used by humans as a postal pigeon. Pigeons are perfectly oriented in space, so they always return to the house.
Today these birds are used in rescue operations. Birds make a corresponding sound when they come across a yellow vest, or circle over the place where a lost person is found. Pigeons are very intelligent creatures, so they are easy to learn and train.
Rock pigeons were the first domesticated representatives. They tamed the wild cisar 5000 years ago. It is he who is considered the progenitor of all subsequent domestic breeds. After domestication, they began to grow for the purpose of obtaining meat, eggs and feathers.
The first notes about the abilities of sisars were in the Bible: Noah sends a dove in search of land. After that, the bird became a symbol of peace.
Breeding
To breed Blue Doves at home, you need to build a poultry house. The difference between the breed is its simplicity in the choice of food. However, this fact does not mean that you can leave the food of the pigeons to chance. Beautiful feathers and tasty meat can only be obtained with proper care and feeding with balanced feed.
Pigeons are characterized by a very weak immunity, therefore, in order to avoid infection with infectious diseases, they should be vaccinated. Pigeons can be carriers of many ailments that are dangerous to humans. Cleanliness and timely airing of the room in which the pigeons live is the key to good health of the pets. Also, the room must maintain optimal temperature and humidity so that the birds can develop normally. There must be free range.
Interesting Facts
This breed has such a feature as homing. It is the ability to return home from any distance. These birds can stay in the air for a long time. The record holder for returning home from a long distance is the beauty dove of Brazil. She flew 41.5 km.
If you blindfold the bird, it will stop shaking its head back and forth and navigate the terrain. Descriptions of pigeons are found in historical sources much more often than about other avian representatives.
Final part
Today, there are practically no regions and countries in which there would be no Blue Doves. This breed was domesticated 5000 years ago. Used to obtain meat, eggs and fluff.Man tamed these birds one of the first. It is believed that the rest of the domestic pigeon breeds were bred from them. The species received the name for the color of the plumage, which is dominated by gray colors with green, blue and metallic sheen. The wild relative is distinguished by a lighter color than the semi-domestic one.
The bird has played an ambiguous role in human life. They were used not only to get meat, but also in pigeon mail. Today they continue to be used in various search operations. This breed is distinguished by an inquisitive mind and endurance. Its representatives are able to return home from very long distances. They develop a flight speed of over 100 km / h.