Bleeding Heart Pigeons (Not a Finch - But)

[Lukec]

Hi

Do many people here keep Bleeding Hearts?

I know its not Finch but Finchos do have a Tendency to keep them.

Cheers
Luke

[Jayburd]

love em, but mum can't stand them

Poitta has some, I think

[GregH]

I could get them since I'm in the Philippines but you'd have to get a damned big aviary to co-house them with finches. I even got rid of my diamond doves because they were too big an clumsy, blundering into nests and eating all the soft food. If I had another aviary and a sympathetic spouse I might consider them as they are nice and still only about $90 a pair at Cartimar and about $12 at teh local market! Of course they are wild caught and some forms are endangered.

[Lukec]

I would imagine they are wild caught Greg, do you know if they settle down?

Just interested in their wild habits, are they flighty etc...hard to acclimatise etc

[VR1Ton]

I know a couple of people with them, most are softbill breeders, but have seen them kept in with finches, wrens, chats ect. as they are mainly terrestrial, they also go with other more arborial doves, but you do need to keep an eye on them. If you've got plenty of cover for them they stay relatively calm & tend to just sneek away rather than fly, but have also seen them kept in bare parrot aviaries.

[arthur]

B-H Pigeons are finch compatible aggression wise . .but the poor finches panic and crash into the mesh etc for the first couple of days and then think no more of their new aviary mates until the B-H's build a nest on top a a finch nest (usually the one with young in it) . . .

They are live-food gluttons and will stand at the live-food/soft food station and eat the LOT . . . One way of preventing this is by putting a frame of 50mm mesh over the containers, allowing finch access but not pigeon access . .

B-H's are also flighty to the point of blind panic if cornered. Many have bald/scarred heads where feathers will not regrow, from literally "hitting the roof" . .

I found that if you do not make eye contact with them they will not panic and wil allow you to pass by very close to them . . likewise when they are incubating . . They can be quietened somewhat by tossing them mealworms but will never lose the tendency to "lose it" if they feel threatened

They are not the sharpest tool in the avian shed, but are very attractive birds and add a further dimension to the aviary, spending most of the day on the floor but roosting at night on high perches

A good breeding pair will nest almost continuously . . but infertility is a problem with many pairs, possibly because of lack of genetic diversity . .

DNA sexing is recommended, from a dozen birds there will be three "definite" cocks, three "definite" hens, and six "maybes"

Obviously larger planted aviaries are required and small enclosures would be a no-no

Price seems to vary from place to place and from time to time . . around $250 +/-
They seem to be a bird that varies from hard to get . . to hard to get rid of

[Lukec]

Thanks Arthur, some good info here.