# Pigeon / Dove Society that will ring adult birds?



## Xanthe (May 31, 2012)

Hello! 

I have a collared dove that I rescued at only a few days old. It was nesting on a floodlight where I work and the manager knocked the nest down and installed those anti-roosting spikes. 

More to the point, I would like to try train him/her to be a homing dove, (he/she is imprinted on humans but I'd like be able to let him/her out to fly and come back as he/she wishes) but if I were to do so I'd like to get him/her ringed so that if he/she became lost he/she can be returned to me.

I was wondering if anyone knew more about how I should go about this? I understand the very similar ring neck dove is kept quite commonly in the US but not over here, and am having trouble finding a society/organisation that may provide this service as they all seem to be geared at racers or fancy pigeons or will only ring them as nestlings.

If only I'd thought about it sooner...

Thankyou very much in advance for your time & help.

~Xanthe


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## ljb107 (Nov 16, 2008)

Do you think it would actually come back to you? Pigeons are difficult as it is haha, let alone doves.


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## Xanthe (May 31, 2012)

ljb107 said:


> Do you think it would actually come back to you? Pigeons are difficult as it is haha, let alone doves.


Actually, doves are quite good homers. It's all in the instinct. They just aren't capable of the huge distance that racing pigeons can cover.

That was a really negative and poor thought out remark. I hope in future you will think about your responses before you click 'post'.


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## corvid2e1 (Jan 21, 2007)

Sorry, but Collared Doves are not good homers, They lack the homing instinct that Rock Doves (domestic pigeons) have so will simply get lost on training. While Barbary Doves (very closely related species) are commonly kept in captivity and bred in several mutations they are kept strictly as aviary birds, not allowed to fly free. If you live in a very isolated area you may be able to carfuly attemt a soft release so that you bird can fly free in your area and claim its territory there, however you would not be able to take it away from home and expect it to fly back in the manor of a homing pigeon. If you have other houses around you I would not recomend allowing free flight, at least not on a permenent basis, as imprints with unrestricted freedom almost always end up in trouble by approaching people who are not expecting to be landed on by a "wild" bird. If you were to work carfully on recall training you may be able to give your bird controled free flight sesions. Avian ID produce split rings in most sizes which can be engraved to order with what ever you require (e.g. your phone number) so they may be worth a look.


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## ljb107 (Nov 16, 2008)

Xanthe said:


> Actually, doves are quite good homers. It's all in the instinct. They just aren't capable of the huge distance that racing pigeons can cover.
> 
> That was a really negative and poor thought out remark. I hope in future you will think about your responses before you click 'post'.


Lmfao good luck! Maybe you could tell me where all the racing pigeons with good homing ability i lost off the loft roof last season went, without training or racing lol.

Like the previous comment - if your bird has a great recall and is well imprinted then you may get it back if you let it out, maybe try it with a harness on first with long line


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## Xanthe (May 31, 2012)

ljb107 said:


> Lmfao good luck! Maybe you could tell me where all the racing pigeons with good homing ability i lost off the loft roof last season went, without training or racing lol.
> 
> Like the previous comment - if your bird has a great recall and is well imprinted then you may get it back if you let it out, maybe try it with a harness on first with long line


You are rude and lacking tact. Your behaviour and the way you think you can talk to people, even it is over the internet, is unacceptable. 

Grow up.


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## Xanthe (May 31, 2012)

corvid2e1 said:


> Sorry, but Collared Doves are not good homers, They lack the homing instinct that Rock Doves (domestic pigeons) have so will simply get lost on training. While Barbary Doves (very closely related species) are commonly kept in captivity and bred in several mutations they are kept strictly as aviary birds, not allowed to fly free. If you live in a very isolated area you may be able to carfuly attemt a soft release so that you bird can fly free in your area and claim its territory there, however you would not be able to take it away from home and expect it to fly back in the manor of a homing pigeon. If you have other houses around you I would not recomend allowing free flight, at least not on a permenent basis, as imprints with unrestricted freedom almost always end up in trouble by approaching people who are not expecting to be landed on by a "wild" bird. If you were to work carfully on recall training you may be able to give your bird controled free flight sesions. Avian ID produce split rings in most sizes which can be engraved to order with what ever you require (e.g. your phone number) so they may be worth a look.


Aaaah! Thankyou very much for a proper answer. =) It's nice to get a response from someone who really knows what they're doing! 

Very true, I had worried about knowing that he will fly to people for food or water. 

I live in a very built up area, so I suspect it's probably not a good idea to attempt a soft release, then. Although, we are training him to come back to us with a call (with some success so far). If we can get that sorted, maybe we can try taking him down to the park on nice days. Of course, I'll have a look at the rings you suggested if I do. ^__^

It's something I'll have to seriously think about. Thankyou again for such incredibly helpful advice! =)

~Xanthe x


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## ljb107 (Nov 16, 2008)

Xanthe said:


> You are rude and lacking tact. Your behaviour and the way you think you can talk to people, even it is over the internet, is unacceptable.
> 
> Grow up.


You're very welcome. Maybe i'm just tired of people asking questions and then firing back uneducated information when i try to help. I will keep my opinions and experience to myself next time people ask for it : victory:

I hope you do get the rings for it and hope you don't just let it out without a long lead the first time, as i'd hate to see you post that it flew away or got nailed by a sparrow hawk or peregrine falcon (which happens alot more than you'd think) as its lacking experience that it would have learnt in the wild.

Have fun


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## JOE DE KIDD (May 15, 2013)

i dont mean to barge in here and cause any problems but as one of the other members previously said they do not own the homing ability a rock dove or racing pigeon would,iv bred pigeons all my life and i couldnt even think of telling u for a start how many iv lost,and there supposed to be the best homers u can get,hence the name "homing pigeon" doves lack the brain capasity to be able to home to a direct spot,from my point of veiw it would be a perfectly good waste of a bird that would be widely appreciated in anyones avairy,just letting it out to fend for itself would kill it in a matter of days,wouldnt have the natural fears as a wild one would,it would see a hawk coming towards it and not think anything of it until its about 2 inches away from its face holding it down and ripping it apart,if u apreciat your bird as it is theres no reason you would want to basically.......kill it,id rather neck my birds and put them in the wheely bin than let them out if i knew they didnt have a chance


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## Xanthe (May 31, 2012)

JOE DE KIDD said:


> i dont mean to barge in here and cause any problems but as one of the other members previously said they do not own the homing ability a rock dove or racing pigeon would,iv bred pigeons all my life and i couldnt even think of telling u for a start how many iv lost,and there supposed to be the best homers u can get,hence the name "homing pigeon" doves lack the brain capasity to be able to home to a direct spot,from my point of veiw it would be a perfectly good waste of a bird that would be widely appreciated in anyones avairy,just letting it out to fend for itself would kill it in a matter of days,wouldnt have the natural fears as a wild one would,it would see a hawk coming towards it and not think anything of it until its about 2 inches away from its face holding it down and ripping it apart,if u apreciat your bird as it is theres no reason you would want to basically.......kill it,id rather neck my birds and put them in the wheely bin than let them out if i knew they didnt have a chance


No no, that's fine. I think corvid2e1 answered my question very well. I'd just like to be able to give it the opportunity to feel the wind in it's feathers, so to speak, if I could. 
I used to have a cockatiel that I raised from the egg, and he would come on walks with me and fly freely to the trees in the park and come back to me. =P

It's decided that he will stay home bird, bless him. I suppose at the end of the day, he's never known anything else, so isn't technically missing out. (Was an ugly pin-feather monster when we got him)

Alas! He has free reign of the house! =D


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## tinyfish (Nov 11, 2008)

you can buy plastic 'if found please ring *****' rings personalised with your phone number on ebay, that may help (or you could buy a plain plastic ring and write your number on that with a fine waterproof marker) :2thumb:


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## corvid2e1 (Jan 21, 2007)

tinyfish said:


> you can buy plastic 'if found please ring *****' rings personalised with your phone number on ebay, that may help (or you could buy a plain plastic ring and write your number on that with a fine waterproof marker) :2thumb:


You can, however despite some of them being advertied as sutable for "doves", all the ones I have seen are the size for a domestic pigeon (the white ones kept in garden dove cotes are often misleadingly called doves, in fact they are the same species as the homing pigeons, just a white mutation) and would be too big for a collared dove. The plain ones do come in various sizes so a DIY one is posible that way.


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