Today I received a question about dove behavior that might help several people here on The Café. The writer asked about a new dove that "mews" and acts injured around the other doves.

First of all the dove should be perfectly healthy. This in not unusual behavior in a young dove. Juvenile doves display this behavior around what they consider superior adult doves. For a few weeks it is a leftover from being fed by adults. Young doves stay as hungry as teenaged humans. Growing take food and lots of it.

It goes away as the youngster grows and develops into an adult. Adult injured doves usually "hide" as best they can. They expect no help from others. Too bad humans can't be that honest about maturity. Instead we tend to hide those who didn't develope into adults.

Enjoy your doves.

Bob Sanders
Magic By Sander

Thanks for the help.

In adult doves, look for birds that don't or can't perch. Those are the ones that are females getting ready to start a nest or may need some extra care. Healthy birds flee by flying up, not running away.

Bob Sanders
Magic By Sander

Bob knows what he is talking about. If you watch your birds you will become familiar with the things they do normally. Then you can differentiate between healthy actions and illness.

Be aware of a bird that seems a bit "lightweight" when you handle them. That is also a sign of illness or parasites.

A sick bird will usually be all fluffed out, often with eyes closed, sitting on the perch or cage bottom. On the perch the tail can be observed to move up and down like an old fashioned water-pump handle. This means they are in some sort of respiratory distress.

Sometimes doves will sit on the cage bottom when preparing to lay eggs, so don't confuse that behavior for illness. Even the final phase of the mating dance can look weird. This follows the puffed up neck and constant coo-ca-roo dance-thang. In this phase, the male lowers his head, raises his tail, and flips his wing tips. This can make you think the bird is totally not feeling well. (Gotta be a joke somewhere in that line...) Watch your birds and learn the difference.

An "avian" vet specialilzes in bird health issues and they are the folks who take care of sick birds. Fortunately, doves are very hardy creatures!

Happy magic!
MorningStar