Copyright © 2008, Cherie Phillips

Leopard Dove on Left (large).
Zebra Dove on Right (small).

ZEBRA DOVES NOT WHITE
SHOW
CLASSIC PEACEFULNESS

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October 10, 2008.  Of all the doves, the Zebra Dove holds the heart of the classic peaceful concept of doves. While the White Dove is very beautiful to look at, as well as the Leopard Dove (this is what I call them, but their official name is Ring-Necked Dove which name I reject). The Zebra Dove, however, is small and gray with a zebra stripped chest.

The Zebra Dove has a complex and formal social order. They are very courteous to each other, and no matter what problems surface around them, they always keep their peaceful behavior and remain calm.

BOW

The Zebra Dove and the Leopard Dove both  practice bowing for which I have been trying to determine the specific social function. Most commonly, I observe one bowing to another, who either ignores the bow or runs away.  At this point, I thought it must serve as a boy bowing to an attractive girl. However, it get more complex.

Other times, I have observed them bowing to each other and then each goes on about their business of searching for food.  By the way, it seems that most living things spend essentially their entire day looking for food.  Perhaps, that is why we have a tendency to eat so much, because in "uncivilized" society, food-gathering was the priority during the day. Habits linger.

Specifically, the bow involves bending over entirely and spreading the tail feathers when the head reaches the lowest level.  The tail feathers are beautiful with some white feathers and some black. These tail feathers are not visible to such extent until they bow.

FORMAL BOW

Today, I witnesses a variation of the ordinary bow, and I conclude that what I now witness is the "formal bow."  One dove bows to the other several times. Then the other bows. Thereafter, they bow together, at the same time, a specific number of times (since this is my first time seeing the formal bow, I didn't think to count).  After that, both birds flap their wings and rise up only a short distance from the railing (porch) and suspend themselves in-place momentarily, and then change sides.  Then they both bow to each other again a specific number of times, and repeat the suspended flapping, but this time, they circle while suspending themselves at the same distance from the railing. They ended with more bowing in unison. After that, one of the birds flew away while the other stayed for awhile.

This was exciting to finally see the full bow. The great significance of this is that it appears that they have the ability to count.  They were bowing in a coordinated pattern and had to count to know when they would flap their wings.  Also, they were coordinated when landing from the spin. I will have to observe it more to come to a complete conclusion. That reminds me about the time I found a darling baby Zebra Dove. I'll tell you about that later.

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5008 + 1.5 x 10 ¹⁰ Universal  | Chérie Phillips, Editor

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