Fun Facts!

A dove is tamed fairly easily by introducing it to a small room (such as a bathroom) with few perches. Stay in the room with the dove until it gets tired. Eventually it will allow you to approach it and even sit on your finger.

Albino white doves are sometimes released as part of a ceremony but this is a dangerous practice for the birds. They have extremely sensitive eyes and cannot adjust to daylight after being kept in captivity, so they often go blind with the release.

Ringneck Dove

Streptopelia risoria

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION

This dove is about a foot long from head to tail feathers. Most often this bird has brown and grey feathers on the back and wings with a rich red colored head and breast. Its name comes from the black neck ring around its neck.

HABITAT

The African Collared Dove, parent of the long domesticated ringneck, lives in the savannah regions of North Africa, located in a narrow east west strip south of the Sahara Desert. It's also found on the Sudan and Somalia coasts and central and southern Saudi Arabia.

DIET IN THE WILD

In captivity it prefers grains and seeds, including millet, grain sorghum (milo), wheat, black sunflower, canary grass, safflower and cracked corn.

BEHAVIOR

Males tend to be quarrelsome with other males so it is best to keep them in single pairs. Once a domesticated dove is ‘trained’ it will bond with its owners, perching on your shoulder or cuddling under your neck!

CONSERVATION EFFORTS

These are the most commonly kept doves in the world. No conservation efforts are known.

LIFE SPAN

The average lifespan is 15 years, but ringnecks have been known to live to 30 years in captivity.