Doves. Pigeons. Flying rats. Birds from the Columba family are called by many names. Rock Doves are one of the most common birds in the world. While they are now found in almost every major city worldwide, their native habitat is Europe, North Africa, and South Asia. On the farm they typically roost under the hay hood of the barn and scavenge seeds in the surrounding fields.
Rock doves are known for being monogamous with both parents caring for clutches of one to two eggs. Amazingly, both parents also produce “crop milk” to nourish the squabs through their first week of life. Unique to doves, flamingos, and some penguins, crop milk is a dense mixture of fat and protein produced by the crop lining. The cheese-like secretion also contains antioxidants, bacteria, and immune-enhancing compounds.
Young squab is a also delicacy. While now they can be found in grocery stores, in 18th and early-19th Virginia wealthy landowners occasionally built elaborate dovecotes to attract breeding doves. These buildings – with their warm and cozy nesting boxes – allowed the gentry to easily harvest the young birds just days before they took their first flight.
Life Within The Bounds 