How to Raise Wild Turtle Doves? Breeding Methods and Precautions

The turtle dove is a common wild bird in most parts of our country, similar in appearance to a pigeon. Some people like to catch a few and take them home to raise, so how do you raise wild turtle doves?

1. How to Raise Wild Turtle Doves?

Since wild turtle doves are generally protected animals, they cannot be raised or sold. At present, the number of wild turtle doves is dwindling, and Hunan has listed the turtle dove as a "three-have" protected animal, that is, terrestrial wildlife with important ecological, scientific, and social value protected by the state. However, other provinces do not yet include it among protected animals, so turtle doves also appear in quite a few cities now.

2. What Varieties of Turtle Doves Are There?

1. Red turtle dove. The red turtle dove is also called the red dove, red jiazhu, and so on, and is distributed across the Himalayas, India, China to Southeast Asia and the Philippines. Its living environment consists of open woodland and relatively flat coastal woodland and secondary vegetation.

2. Oriental turtle dove. The oriental turtle dove is the most common type of turtle dove in our country, found in almost every province and region of China. In autumn and winter it moves to the plains and often roosts in flocks with spotted doves. What we usually call the turtle dove mostly refers to the oriental turtle dove.

3. Spotted dove. The spotted dove is also called “zhongban” and “spotted-necked dove. This variety of turtle dove is rarely seen in our country; it is mainly distributed in Southeast Asia and Australia.