raisingthe whiteearedbrownfruitdove

White-eared brown fruit dove with chick.

(Phapitreron leucotis)

by Ann and Don HurstOrlando, Florida

Raising theWhite Eared Brown Fruit Dove

and Meaty dog food for a little extraprotein. Our dry mix consists mostlyof Purina Gamebird Starter, withsome Purina Trout Chow, utra­Blend Green and Gold pigeon feed,and Wayne's Dog Meal. RecentlySchmidt suggested we try addingsome apple flavored horse pellets, butthe white-ears don't go for them aswell as some of the larger doves andpigeons. With warmer weather weput the four doves into a 4' x 6' x 6'high planted aviary. By then we real­ized that these birds, though not aseye catching as the black napes, arevery lovely and make a delightfulcooing noise. We also noticed thewhite-ears are much calmer and,therefore, less likely to spook thanthe black napes.

In April we had all four birds surgi­cally sexed and found we had luckedout and had two pairs. The little ame­thyst was a hen, so we went aheadand paired her off with the extra malewhite-ear. Each pair was given a 4' x4' x 6' high planted flight made of1/2" x 1/2" hardware wire. Theseflights are fed from a safety hall andare 90% covered. We built a 6" x 12"plywood shelf, with aI" x 2" railaround the edge, up in the back cor­ner for a nesting site. The last fewdays of May we noticed both birdsspending some time on the nestingshelf. On the morning of May 31 wefound the female sitting on the nestand this time she looked serious.Later that day we checked closer and,sure enough, there was one egg. Thefollowing day we were surprised tofind another egg, because we wereused to the black napes, which layonly one egg. The male and femaletook turns setting their eggs andoccasionally we would find themboth setting and looking very pleasedwith themselves. On June 13th wesaw egg shell on the ground and June21st both babies fledged. It was sev­eral weeks before we were certain thebab .es were eating on their own andmoved them to an adjoining flight.The parents went right back to nestand we now have two more babies.

We have thoroughly enjoyed thesebirds. They have a subdued beautythat is very appealing and theirdelightful coo is the first sound wehear welcoming us to a new day.Editor~s Note: The Avy Awards

Committee requests any informa­tion on previous known breedings ofthe white-eared brown fruit dove.This species has been nominated fora U. S. First Breeding Award.•

provided them with a heat lamp.We turned to Richard Schmidt

again and with a little help from abook or two he identified our new lit­tle darl'ns a three white-eared brownfruit dove and one amethyst dove.

Being familiar with fruit doves, weknew the basics to offer as far as dietwas concerned. We didn't know thisparticular species' likes and dislikes,so we gave them everything we couldthink of. (This is another advantage ofusing a smaller cage with birds youare quarantining, since you know thebirds can find the food and you canreadily tell what they prefer.)

At that time we were using the pop­ular basic softbill diet: three cans bite­size (21 % protein) dog food to onecan of fruit cocktail. We do not usethe fruit mixture anymore but,instead, canned or frozen mixed vege­tables. The birds like it as well or bet­ter, it is more nutritious, and we haveeliminated the sweetness. To thisbasic mixture of vegetables and dogfood we add raisins, chopped beets,apple, banana and, when they arefeeding babies, we add little brokenpieces of soaked monkey biscuit ontop, as well as a few strips of Moist

When I graduated from highschool, my fiance gave me a beautifulpair of white doves. That was thestart of something great in more waysthan one! In the last 30 years we haveraised four children and lot of birds.

We have kept a little bit of every­thing, except the big, noisy birds, aswe live in a residential neighborhoodand have alway tried to respect that.After raising parakeets, cockatiels,lovebirds and five different kinds ofconures, we have found that our trueloves are finches, softbills and doves -especially fruit doves.

Two years ago we acquired a pair ofblack naped fruit doves from ourfriend Richard Schmidt. We fell inlove with these beauties right off, andwere lucky enough to get them to goto nest and present us with a newbaby every few months.

In the pring of '88, my husbandcame across four nondescript-lookingfruit doves. Having just been releasedfrom quarantine, they appeared to bein sad shape, but to us they were irres­i table. Since the weather was stillcool and the birds looked less thanrobust, we kept them in a small cagein our quarantine area. At night we

4 April/May 1989

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