Breeding the Celebes Golden Heart Dove

Abstract

According to the literature, the Celebes golden heart dove (Gallicolomba tristigmata) has seldom, if ever, been successfully imported into this country ... that is until early 1985. The birds were obtained by one source overseas and imported through two parties into the United States; one in Florida and the other in California. Quite a few birds have now been imported so that a good captive nucleus is available to ensure the success of this handsome species in aviculture.

Related to the golden heart dove of New Guinea and the bleeding heart doves of the Philippines, (G. luzonica), the Celebes species is indeed a desirable addition. The forehead is a bright golden yellow and the rest of the top of the head is a powder blue-green fading to a rusty brown down the nape and mantle. The throat and belly are mostly a dirty white with another patch of yellow on the breast. At the base of the nape there is a maroon band (in the nominate form). Our birds have the band broken into a blotch on each side. This, plus the intensity of the yellow on the breast shield suggest our birds are the subspecies.

When we obtained our birds in February 1985, there were several birds available, however, we could see two birds, one slightly larger than the others with a bit more color, that tended to stay together. We thought that they might be a true pair. At the same time we also obtained a pair of black-nape fruit doves and a pair of superb fruit doves. These birds had been quarantined for more than a month at a friend's and appeared healthy.

We released them into the aviaries when we got home. The superbs were placed into a separate flight by themselves. The black-napes and the Celebes (as we have come to call them) were placed together into a well planted aviary measuring 18' long x 10' wide x S' high with a pond approximately 3-4' across. This aviary is also home to a number of different finch species including chestnut-breasted, lavenderfire finches, pintail parrot finches, pearly-headed silver bills, and a pair of green avadavats. On the ground there are two Venezuelan semi-aquatic turtles Rbinoclemmys sp.). To date there has been no interaction of any concern between the turtles and birds. In fact, in another aviary with a large pond we have a number of aquatic species of turtles with our Pekin robins and tanagers. We have had no problems with this combination. However, some turtles can be aggressive so you must be careful which turtles you combine with your birds.

The Celebes and the black-napes settled down fairly quickly, with the quail doves occupying the ground and the fruit cloves staying in the vegetation where they sit motionless for long periods of time.

Our diet originated through a number of sources; a friend who already had some of the Celebes, and any reading material we could find. We then combined what we felt was the best of each and settled on the following: mix together cooked, diced carrots, corn, beets, black-eyed peas, cooked rice, and soaked raisins. We also used some cooked, diced sweet or white potatoes. We found adding the potatoes made the mix softer and wetter than what we wanted so this was left out. We mix large batches at one time and store them in zip-lock bags and freeze them. Our other mix was originally made for our finches, but is now fed to all the birds. We mix equal amounts of ground dry dog food with high protein baby cereal and add ground-up hard boiled egg including shell. This is all mixed until a uniform color and a fluffy consistency is achieved. A note of caution: boil the eggs for at least 20 minutes and let dry for at least an hour on some kind of absorbent material. The eggs when hot retain too much moisture and, if added to the dry mixture at that point, will turn the mix into a doughy mess. This is also made up in large batches and put in zip-lock bags and stored in the freezer.

Our usual morning routine is to chop into small pieces a number of apples and/or pears and add dry wheat germ and dry quick oats to which we add the egg food mix. We also use endive for our greens which is chopped into small pieces. We chop fruits such as plums, grapes, peaches, strawberries, bananas, melon, oranges, etc. depending on availability. Once all this is chopped in small pieces we distribute the various mixes to individual dishes.

Our birds are fed once a day in the morning. With the Celebes and blacknapes we use approximately 2 tablespoons of the vegetable mix and 2 tablespoons of the egg and apple mix. We add the greens and the fruit mix and we have also used crumbled Moist & Meaty dog food, which is a brand of semimoist individually wrapped dog food made up of meat and cheese. Vitamins are sprinkled over the food before serving the birds. (We use Nekton products mixing Nekton S., E., and MSA together in a large shaker.)

Since the quail doves and finches require seed, we supply a large crock with a seed mixture. Our mix is 1/2 white millet, 1/3 small finch seed, 1/3 canary seed and 1/3 hook-bill treat (which contains safflower, hemp, milo, and millet. Their dishes are placed on a low platform about 1-1/2 feet above the ground. We also place a dish on a flat rock directly on the ground. This way the birds have two feeding stations and the turtles can also get at the soft food. The Celebes feed readily at both stations. They will use higher feed platforms as we have other Celebes in different aviaries that do so.

Shortly after the doves were introduced into the aviary, several nests were positioned at various heights from approximately a foot off the ground up to approximately 6 feet. Since nothing was known about the breeding habits of the Celebes in the wild, we decided to position the nests to cover all possibilities.

 

 

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