Wild and forest pigeons are common representatives of birds, which fill not only forest areas, but also city streets, playgrounds and houses. Children and adults love them for their good disposition and extraordinary beauty. There are many species in the world, but some of them are the most common and unusual.
Features of forest and wild pigeons
In many religions, the dove is considered a sacred creature - according to the Bible, it was this bird that indicated Noah to the proximity of the earth, in Islam there is a belief that the dove brought water to Muhammad in its beak. In our country, it is a symbol of peace; in past centuries, a dove played the role of a postman. You can talk about it indefinitely, but what is the peculiarity of this breed of birds, it is worth exploring in more detail.
This is a detachment of birds of the pigeon family. To date, there are more than 290 varieties. Among them are wild, forest, exotic and decorative species. Unlike domesticated breeds, birds living in the wild do not create nests near human dwellings. Twisting is carried out on the cliffs of ponds, in the rocks, etc. Nesting is carried out colonially. Each pair incubates up to 3 eggs.
Other features:
- To form a pair, the male must first build a nest. It is from here that he attracts the female to himself with an active coo. And only sometimes makes current flights towards the females. At the same time, he intensively flaps his wings, dissolves a beautiful tail and makes a planning flight down, which means a direct invitation.
- The process of courtship of pigeons is considered difficult: the male coo cooing around the girl, after which they begin to kiss (stroking each other with beaks and neck).
- Pigeon breeding begins in mid-February or March, depending on climatic conditions.
- Both partners hatch eggs for a maximum of 18 days.
- The pigeon chicks are not noisy, but hissing.
- The number of broods per season in one pair reaches five.
- To feed newborn pigeons, milk is used that is secreted by females and males. It has a white-yellow hue, a thick consistency and many useful substances.
- When the chicks grow up, their parents feed them with grains, which moisturize and collect in goiter.
- What the chicks look like: the body is covered with a yellow-dirty fluff, which subsequently becomes grayish. As the plumage grows, the color scheme changes accordingly.
Unusual abilities of pigeon-shaped birds:
- excellent memory - a bird is able to remember more than 700 images;
- unsurpassed hearing: lower - up to 10 Hz, upper - 12 000 Hz;
- the ability to distinguish between objects and separate artificial from natural;
- the ability to hear infrasounds;
- anticipation of changes in weather conditions and disasters (natural origin);
- skin distinguishes light from darkness;
- vision - the pigeon sees only what he needs at the moment (the eyeball is located in most of the skull).
Back in the last century, the scientist Frost B. discovered an amazing relationship between the walking of pigeons and their visual abilities. It turns out that a peculiar nodding of the head stabilizes the image - when the head is pulled forward, the environment is fixed.
Types of Forest Pigeons
Forest pigeons do not differ in large sizes - their maximum weight is 650 grams, and the minimum is only 200 grams. The body is muscular and streamlined, the beak is pointed, and the head is small. They are hardy and able to fly great distances. The main tone of the forest representatives of the fauna is gray and buffy. There are a huge number of species, but in our latitudes most often occur vyakhir and klintukh.
Wahir
Bright representative of large forest pigeons. Another name is Wituten.
Characteristic:
- weight - 650-700 grams;
- body length - maximum 45 cm;
- tail - 17 cm;
- wings spread at 70-80 cm, due to which claps occur;
- plumage - gray-gray;
- a brown strip runs along the back;
- the neck and head area is gray-red;
- wax, beak - pink with a yellowish tinge on the tip;
- there are no differences between the female and the male;
- habitat - coniferous, deciduous and mixed forests;
- main food - nuts, acorns, seeds, grains;
- during the flight they are kept in a pack, after they are broken up in pairs;
- distinctive features - increased timidity, ability to hang upside down;
- enemies are martens, birds of the predator family, badgers, foxes.
More information about this kind of pigeons is written here.
Klintuh
This is a species with plumage with a bluish tint. The neck is strewn with malachite, and the wings are completely gray. The tail deserves special attention, as it is covered with black stripes.
Features:
- the male is larger than the female, his weight reaches up to 365 grams, and her - 280-290 g;
- body length of 35 cm;
- wingspan - maximum 70 cm;
- the tail is shortened;
- place of residence - forest thickets (prefers trees with hollows);
- climatic conditions do not matter; therefore, clintukh lives both in Siberia and in Africa.
Types of wild pigeons
People meet wild pigeons daily on the streets of the city. But despite the close relationship of birds with humans in the daytime, they arrange nests away from people. Many representatives manage to be tamed, as they easily adapt to pigeons.
Gray
The most common type of wild pigeon. The name of the bird indicates color. Preference is given to a settled way of life, but in case of danger can fly to another locality. Another name is sisar.
The main differences from other breeds:
- the length of the wings of the male reaches 22 cm, females - 21.5 cm;
- wingspan - from 50 to 67 cm;
- the length of the body is from 29 to 36 cm;
- weight - 260-380 grams;
- feathers - dense and dense, loosely attached to the skin;
- habitat - attics, roofs of houses, in the wild - dense thickets of trees;
- The diet consists of plant seeds and grains.
Gray
In the wild, they prefer thickets, in the city - roofs of houses. The length of the adult is 36-37 cm, the color of the feathers is gray-silver, with a tint under the influence of sunlight. The wing part is edged in black, the nape is greenish, the eyes are mainly purple or red.
Rocky
This breed is completely reminiscent of sisar. The main difference is the resinous black color of the beak, a light tail and a smaller size. Prefers to live exclusively in rocky areas.
White-breasted
It was this breed that was used by mankind as a postman. It is completely similar to a rocky dove, but with a whitish breast. Feature - maximum flight speed - 70 km / h.
Turtledove
Dovetail prefers forests and steppes. Lives in the wild and on city streets. The largest body length is 27 cm, and the weight is only 200-250 grams. The common name is a laughing bird. This is due to the fact that the singing of the turtledove can be confused with human laughter.
There are many varieties, but you need to pay special attention to these types:
- Short-tailed dove prefers warm countries. It is characterized by a body length of only 22 cm, of which the tail is 8-9 cm. The color is brown-red, the neck is gray-blue.
- Common turtledove weighs only 120 grams, looks like a wild dove, but her body is very graceful. Coloring is mottled, there are red and brown blotches. Easily adapts to any climatic conditions. Lives in bushes, on trees, near open reservoirs. Feature - quickly flies and runs on the ground.
- Ringed variety not afraid of man, therefore, nests and flies in the home of people. The plumage is gray-brown, but the chest and neck have a pinkish tint. When an individual reaches adulthood, a white semi-ring forms on the neck.
- Turtle dove large Siberian. It looks like an ordinary turtledove in appearance, but has a much larger size. It has a migratory lifestyle.
Short-tailed dove
Common turtledove
Ringed turtledove
Siberian (large) turtledove
Exotic wild pigeons
Wild pigeons of exotic species live in a wide variety of countries. There are many breeds, they are distinguished by the uniqueness of color, structure and plumage.
Two Tone Fruit
This is a large dove, whose weight is 510 grams. Breed length - 40-42 cm, wing span - 45 cm. The name “fruit” comes from the diet - the bird prefers fruits and nuts.
The main tone is white, which is framed on the tail and wings with black. Beak is gray-blue, legs are grayish.
Fan-shaped crowned
A very large breed, the weight of which reaches up to 3 and a half kilograms, but the average performance is 2-2.5 kg. At the same time, the body length is 70-80 cm. He loves high humidity, so he prefers wetlands and saga forests.
The diet consists of fruits, berries, seeds. The dove got its name due to the presence of a peculiar crest, which resembles a crown. Depending on the mood, the crest opens in a fan and makes movements. Distinctive features: roundness of a long and wide tail.
Spinifex
The breed prefers rocky terrain and low forests, as it lives on soil. It weighs only 100-120 grams, the body has a length of 21-24 cm. It feeds mainly on seeds.
Treron vernans
The habitat is the tropics, subtropics, mountain forests, mango thickets. He likes a humid climate, eats berries and fruits. The maximum bird length is 28-30 cm. A rare breed prone to extinction.
Ruffed
This is an unusually beautiful exotic pigeon that lives in the wild jungle and on uninhabited islands. It belongs to predators, since in addition to the fruits of trees and seeds, it eats invertebrate fauna. Prefers a land-based lifestyle, wings are poorly developed. Is listed as endangered.
Other species of forest, wild and exotic pigeons
List of unique pigeons:
- Green african It has a bright yellow-green color and a body length of 30 cm.
- Frillback - a decorative bird with curly feathers. Depending on the subspecies, it has a variety of colors.
- Saxon Field - breeding breed coming from a gray dove.
- Jacobin The bird is bred in Asia. Has a feathered hood over the head.
- Trumpeter English different low sound, reminiscent of laughter.
- Kondratyevsky Dubovsky refers to a high-flying breed, in which shortened legs without feathers. Used for competitions.
- Thurman black piebald got divorced in Kaluga. During the flight, the dove tumbles.
- Kamyshinskaya the breed came to us from the Volga region. Refers to a winged bird with long wings and tail.
- Spartacus was bred in Ufa. Has a forelock, flies at a considerable height.
- Sharp-crested stone It is distinguished by a beautiful crest on its head; it prefers to live near water bodies.
- Motley red-necked the pigeon is the owner of a unique purple-pink neck.
- Mury: color - mottled, body - the most harmonious.
- Variegated Rose Caps different orange breast, pink head and the presence of a variety of shades.
- White-headed Elbin is a vivid representative of the massive broad-chested birds of the pigeon-shaped order.
- Silver Galician different long neck, convex and wheel-shaped breast.
Green african
Frillback
Saxon Field
Jacobin bird
Trumpeter English
Kondratievsky Dubov Dove
Thurman black pigeon
Kamyshin pigeon
Spartacus
Sharp-crested stone
Motley red-necked
The pigeon
Variegated Pink-Capped Pigeon
White-headed Elbin
Silver Galician
Features of wild and forest pigeons
For breeding pigeons to succeed, you need to choose the right breed and pair. It is important to take into account the characteristics of nutrition and bird keeping. The construction of the dovecote plays an important role, because wild pigeons are designed for living in natural conditions.
How to tame?
Wild representatives of pigeons do not tolerate human society, so the process of taming will be lengthy. In the first stages, you need to start feeding. But only one single person should do this. Otherwise, the bird will feed from the hands of strangers.
You need to feed twice a day - morning and evening. First, the food crumbles in the immediate vicinity of a person, after which you can accustom yourself to feeding by hand. Sharp movements that may scare the pigeon are ruled out.
Specialists noted that it is the females that are easiest to tame. Therefore, carefully study the information about the selected breed and determine which of the birds is a female and which is a male. After the pigeon gets used to you, the pigeon will also cease to be afraid.
Feeding rules
The principle of taming to the palm:
- sprinkle some feed;
- very slowly begin to reach out in the direction where the birds are;
- lock in one position and wait;
- for the first time no more than 2 birds will fly into the palm of your hand.
Products suitable for feeding:
- rape;
- millet;
- sunflower seeds;
- wheat;
- barley;
- bread;
- corn;
- oatmeal;
- fruits.
Maintenance and care
It is necessary to equip the dovecote on the basis of the breed of pigeons. Indeed, some of them prefer deciduous trees, while others prefer exclusively rocks. But there are such requirements:
- as much light as possible should enter the room;
- drinking bowls, feeders and nests are installed (respectively, the first 2 elements in the light, the last in the dark);
- dovecote periodically needs to be disinfected with special means.
The pigeon world is so diverse that it is impossible to list all breeds of birds at a time. Each representative has its own characteristics of appearance, behavior and conditions of detention. And if you decide to tame a wild dove, then be sure to treat him with love and trust. Only in this case will the bird respond in the same way.
Posted by
2
Russia. City: Zheleznogorsk
Publications: 56 Comments: 0