Diamond Dove

Looks how to spot one

Feathered; a tiny, slim ground dove with a long, narrow tail

One of the smallest doves in the world, roughly lovebird-sized in the body but with a long, tapering tail. The head, neck and breast are a soft blue-grey, the belly is pale cream, and the back and wings are a smoky grey-brown sprinkled with tiny white dots edged in black, which give the bird its name. A bright red to orange ring of bare skin circles each red eye, and the legs are pink. A chestnut panel shows on the wing in flight. Females look much the same but usually carry more brown on the head and back and have a thinner, duller eye-ring. Young birds are browner, have plain wings without the white spots, and lack the red eye colour until they mature.1243

Personality what they are like

A peaceful, mild-mannered little dove that is happiest with a mate of its own kind. It is not a cuddly, hands-on pet like a parrot and usually stays a little reserved unless hand-reared, but it grows trusting with calm, patient care and does not bite; tame birds may give a gentle peck instead. Pairs are affectionate with each other, greeting and preening one another. They leave other birds alone, although a cock can get a bit pushy with rivals if space is tight.3657

Daily activity how busy a day looks

An active flier and a keen walker. It needs room to fly back and forth and floor space to wander and forage, so a long flight cage, an aviary or daily free flight in a safe bird room works far better than a tall, narrow cage.36

Grooming and care the hands-on bits

Low-maintenance. Offer a shallow dish of fresh water for bathing every day, keep a mix of perch thicknesses (natural branches are good) for healthy feet, and clean the cage floor regularly since doves spend a lot of time on the ground.35

Home where they are happiest

Choose a cage that is long and wide rather than tall, because doves fly and walk instead of climbing. Keeper guides suggest at least about 60 x 60 cm (2 ft square) for one pair, with bar spacing no wider than about 1 cm; a roomy flight or planted aviary with a sheltered roosting area is ideal. Pairs can share a spacious aviary with small, peaceful birds such as finches and canaries, but not with larger or bossy species.8753

Food basics what goes in the bowl

Mainly small seeds: a good finch or small-dove seed mix with millet (spray millet is a favourite). Add leafy greens such as kale, some soft fruit and vegetables, and keep grit and cuttlebone available at all times, since doves swallow seeds whole and rely on grit to grind them. Egg food or chopped hard-boiled egg helps during breeding. Fresh drinking water daily is essential.3578

Company who they like around

Very social. Keep them at least in a pair, or in a small group in a large aviary. A single bird needs a lot of daily human company to stay content, so a dove companion is the easier route.36

The story where it all began

The diamond dove was named for science by the English ornithologist John Latham in 1801, from specimens collected in Australia. In the wild it follows the rain across the inland, turning up wherever water and seeding grasses appear. It reached European bird collections in the mid-1800s, where London Zoo was among the first to keep it; the first European breeding is reported for 1870, and the bird arrived in Germany around 1875. Because it bred so willingly in cages and aviaries, it quickly became one of the best-loved small doves in bird keeping and has since been described as the most widely kept foreign dove. Generations of captive breeding have made it effectively domesticated, and breeders have developed a wide palette of colour varieties such as silver, cinnamon, yellow, red, peach and snow white. Aviculturists have also long used these easy-going birds as foster parents for rarer dove species.92687

Recognised by the official bits

IUCN Red List

Least Concern; not threatened nationally in Australia.1

Taxonomy

First described by John Latham in 1801 as Columba cuneata; now placed in the genus Geopelia. Older synonyms include Columba macquarie and Turtur spilonota.9