A Soft Release of Wild Birds

Ring-necked doves (Streptopelia risoria) are the most sought-after species to keep as pets and in aviaries, alongside other exotic and wild doves. There are more than 299 species of doves globally, and many of them in public and private aviaries throughout the United States.

They are beautiful, charming, and easy to care for. As pets, doves are excellent for those who want to get started in the world of pets or bird breeding. Reintroducing them in a 100% natural environment is the ultimate goal of numerous conservation projects.

However, many reintroductions are unsuccessful because released animals cannot acclimate to the native environment of the release site, resulting in meager survival rates.

If you want to know how and why to make "A soft release of wild birds," read on to find out about those things that are worth knowing and thus be successful with your doves.

How And Why Make A Soft Release Of Wild Birds?

Acclimatization training is a technique that helps to solve the reinsertion problem that does not usually have positive results in all species. Acclimatization training and soft release could improve the reintroduction of captive-bred ring-necked doves, a species of columbiform bird in the Columbidae family endangered by rising temperatures in the United States.

How?
● Start by reading and learning all you can about the types of doves/birds you keep, including how they live in the wild.

● Build a soft-release enclosure for acclimatization training in the natural habitat typical of the species of bird you wish to reinsert.

● Make sure to provide your birds with a space that does not have dangerous devices for them, such as a fan. Try to include a kind of gym for birds or a tree for exercises.

● Let your birds fly freely for long periods each day or spend as much time as possible outside their aviaries/cages.

Why?
Because some birds tend to get used to seeking safety in cages at night, therefore, inside the aviary, provide a covered cage or some similar retreat area so that these beings can enter and leave at ease.

Because in this sense, 45% of the birds will probably acclimatize to the environment of that release site in about 50 days before the release ("trained birds"), while 55% of the remaining birds remain only in a cage for 3 days before release ("untrained birds").

Some studies highlight that:
● The survival rate of trained birds is higher than that of untrained birds after 50 days (trained: 86%; untrained: 20%).

● Pre-release acclimatization training is an essential factor leading to better survival and habitat selection for reintroduced, captive-bred birds.

We are a low-scale local dove breeder based on Long Island, Elmont, NY. We power our growing doves farming business from our backyard. Without intermediaries, we sell the doves that we raise from babies.

Follow us on our Facebook page to keep up to date with topics related to the title and the latest news. As a sneak peek, we have popular varieties of doves for sale and are working on introducing the most popular, like the white doves.