# Zebra doves



## Biring (Sep 24, 2020)

Quite a lot of people here keep zebra doves in small cages (and usually just one bird). I can't understand why as the wild zebra doves are amazingly tame and also plentiful around here. This pair nested in a mango tree right next to our house. Unfortunately they abandoned the nest before any chicks hatched, but they are back here again. Hopefully they'll have better luck this time.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

They're stunning. They must be a young pair that need a bit more maturity. I've seen that same thing happen with first time broody chickens.


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## Poultry Judge (Jul 15, 2020)

Beautiful birds!


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## Overmountain1 (Jun 5, 2020)

Wow! I didn't even know there were doves that looked that way- beautiful! Makes me want a pair!


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## Biring (Sep 24, 2020)

They've bred successfully and now we have four incredibly tame zebra doves. They eat the tiny pieces of broken rice the chickens leave behind.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

They're so fully developed I can't tell adults from young. 

Isn't this their first successful clutch?


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## Biring (Sep 24, 2020)

As far as I know it’s their first. The chicks fledged a couple of weeks ago but I’ve never been able to tell the chicks and parents apart. I hope they all stick around. They are amazingly tame and the dog doesn’t bother them.


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## Poultry Judge (Jul 15, 2020)

Thanks for the pic, hopefully they will all stay nearby.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

If they've been there all that time I don't see why they'd leave. You could end up with raising Tiger Doves by osmosis.


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## Poultry Judge (Jul 15, 2020)

All part of the Poultry Palace!


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## danathome (Sep 14, 2020)

I used to have diamond doves which are of a similar size but don't have the beautiful feather pattern of the zebra doves. One of the big attractions of having doves is the pleasant cooing sounds they make. Usually young doves can be differentiated from the parents be the bill and cere. The cere especially looks immature for a while after the young leave the nest.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

They look calmer too. So there's the pleasant sound and demeanor I can see why they'd be nice to raise.


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