Cape Dove
(Oena capensis)

The beautiful Cape dove from Africa is a quiet and peaceful aviary bird.

The male has a large facial patch covering the forehead, side of the face and throat area. The beak is bi-colored with a purplish-orange base and yellow tip. The rest of the coloring is mainly brownish-gray and silvery-gray with underparts shading to whitish on the abdomen. The lower back and rump is marked with a whitish band bordered with darker and contrasting bands. The flights are reddish-brown showing a pleasant dash of color while the bird is flying. The underside of the tail is quite dark adding a further contrast.

The female is dull by comparison with a shorter tail and no black on the face.

Hardy and easy to feed, they breed freely in aviaries. While they can be kept with any finches or softbills that are not aggressive, they are intolerant of other doves and should be kept one pair per cage or aviary.

A good basic diet consists of mixed millets and some plain canary seed, with a little wild bird seed mixed in.

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