Ring necked/ Turtle Dove question

[John Burnett]

My wife and I own two Ring necked/ Turtle doves.. Is there a way to tell their sex without DNA testing?

It is very hard for us to tell them apart, does anyone have a safe way to mark them ?

Also is there a good website for learning more about their care and behaviours.

One of my doves is sitting in the food bowl cooing and vibrating, is this a nesting behaviour? How do I help her?

We really don't want them to breed, is there a healthy way to prevent that??

Thanks
John

[Kerry C]

Males bow and coo. Hens just coo. If you didn't want to breed or have eggs you shouldn't have pruchased a hen, there is NO off button.

As for sexing the birds. Turn the bird over in your hand. Take your thumb and lay it across the pelvic bones. With hens the flat of your thumb will "sink" deeper between the bones - enough so an egg can pass. Cocks GENERALLY have tighter (smaller spaced) pelvic bones. I've run across a wide hipped cocks before. At that point you have to observe the birds behavior.

As for safely marking your birds. You can buy open leg bands from L&M Leg Band Company in CA. OR you can use a zip tie on the leg JUST BE SURE TO LEAVE ROOM FOR THE BAND TO SLIDE UP/DOWN ON THE LEG, BUT NOT TOO LOSE THAT IT WILL CATCH ON BRANCHES.

There use to be a group called the National Dove Association. They have disbanded, but they kept their web site up. You will need to Google them. Yahoo Groups has a Dove and Pegion chat group.

BTW and as an FYI - if you belong to a bird club. Doves CAN be exhibited in the Finch Section of a bird show. You can show these birds and individuals OR as a pr. Entry fees are generally about $2 or $3 per class. The birds need to be in a cage with a single perch. They MUST have a food cup and a water cup. (This is the other way around in the parrot division). I liked showing my doves in cockatiel show boxes. For the normal colored doves I would repaint the inside of the show box white. With my white doves I would leave the cockatiel box in it's standard Robin Egg Blue on the inside.