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| Barbary Dove in our garden, Murray Bridge, South Australia |
Barbary Doves are essentially cage birds both here in Australia and in other countries. As far as I can determine, the original species from which this was bred no longer exists in the wild state in Africa.
The bird shown on this post wandered into our garden a year or so ago. It was obviously a very tame bird and had escaped from someone's aviary. The same thing has happened in some suburbs in Adelaide and in other cities and small breeding populations are emerging.
For more information about Australian birds go to Trevor's Birding.
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4 comments:
Keeping a bird cages in a home without a bird is much like having a well decorated fish tank without the fish. Pets provide a warm feel to a house and an empty cage gives the same feeling in the home without the hassle of taking care of a pet. They can also be used in other ways such as a table centerpiece or a very elaborate candle holder.
I live in Pretoria South Africa and this year a few Barbary doves started frequenting my garden as I feed the wild birds. I noticed that these doves have rings around their ankles so I gathered they must have escaped from an aviary. They are so tame, one of them feeds from my hand and I just love having them here. Initially I thought they were mutations of our indigenous red eyed doves - now I know! They are Barbary doves. Bianca Celeghin
Thanks for your comments Bianca. The birds you saw are almost certainly escaped or released birds from an aviary. Bird keepers often tag their birds in this way. Occasionally you may come across a wild bird with a ring or some other tag - these have usually been mist netted by researchers who tag and release them as a part of a large study into the species.
I live in South Australia. We had a couple of Barbary Doves built a nest and had eggs under our verandah. After about 10 days one of the birds (I guess the male) dissappeared. The female continued to lay in the nest for further 2-3 days. Then she left the nest. She is still around and spends the days calling for her partner. It is heart breaking to listen to her calls. Do you know how long she will keep calling for him? Can I do something?
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