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Dove – Why Is It The Symbol Of Peace

Sep 10, 2020 | 4 comments


Birds are commonly found everywhere in urban and rural areas and usually seen in large flocks. 

It often happens that whenever we walk through the parks or wander in the streets, we’ll see the birds wandering here and there. We all must have had a chance to feed a bird by dropping a piece of food or bread and must be grabbed by the one which is quite brave.  

There are lots of birds which are still unknown, and for those which are known, we probably don’t know about them that much. This article will cover the baby dove birds that you might need to know about these pretty creatures.

Squabs Are Super Cute

A Baby dove is usually called a Squab. Baby doves are super cute fluffy balls type birds. Usually, there are two baby doves per hatch, and what’s exciting about their hatching is that the second baby is slightly bigger than the first one. Do you know why this happens? I’ll tell you this. It occurs because the second baby hatches a day apart from the first one. 

Female doves lay eggs, and the eggs need to be incubated continuously. Parent doves sit on to the eggs to keep them warm and to maintain their temperature. The pair will take turns. One takes the day shift and other the night shift. Dove eggs are plain white and is about 2.5 to 3 cm long and 2.5 cm wide.

After 14 days, the eggs hatch. Their parents never leave them alone until the baby doves are quite capable of sustaining themselves, And about 12 days later to their hatching, the nestlings will leave the nest and be fledged for the first time. Probably this is the time where we get to enjoy the beautiful creature wandering all around.

Food is all equally important to the living ones. Dove parents are usually more caring parents than other birds. Baby birds eat by sticking their beaks with their parent’s mouths because they do not open their mouths as much to eat appropriately.

From hatched babies, teenagers to fledged adults, they still have some more learning and developing phases. From teenagers to adult birds, they learn to avoid being eaten by the other animals, i.e. dogs.

How To Guess Their Age

To check how old the baby dove bird is, you can check that if the squab has fully developed, if flight feathers are present in the nest. Then it is between 15 to 45 days old. But if a bird having fully developed flight feathers has left the nest, it means it will be quite adult. 

One more exciting thing to be noted about squabs is that their parents can replace them if they have fallen from their nest. Their parents will not abandon them. It may sometimes happen that baby doves may fall from their nests or left by the parents. The question is, what do you have to do when you find a baby dove fallen apart from their perch?

How To Feed Them

The first thing that comes into mind is to feed the baby dove into it and become able to survive on its own. It is critical to feed baby birds, but doves are the ground feeders; they are more likely to eat seeds. It means parrot food formula, which is readily available at pet stores, can be used.

Because unlike doves, the parrot is a pet bird, and its food formula is readily available. Parrot food formula is for the teenager or the adult bird, not for the baby doves. For the baby dove, a syringe should be used to feed them. Feed a baby dove every 2 to 3 hours a day. If the bird’s crop is empty, it needs to feed the baby again. Offer baby dove to peck seeds. 

Once the baby dove can peck seeds, it is the time to release the dove because, at this time, it is not a baby dove anymore. 

SYMBOL OF PEACE, LOVE, AND TRANQUILITY

Dove birds are most commonly known as the symbol of peace, love, and tranquility. Whenever we used the dove as a symbol of peace, the question makes me curious to know the cause behind the saying; I am sure you’re also interested in learning. 

You know what, there are lots of stories and myths all over the world behind this saying. Let’s get started with the account of Central Asia.

Story From Central Asia

Once Central Asia was heading a war between two kings. One king calls for his armor, and he got to know that a dove has made a nest into his helmet (quite impressive, right). The king’s mother pleaded to her son to leave the mother dove with her family with love and innocence. The king agrees to go and heads out to his enemy without a helmet. The second king sees him without armor and surprisingly calls for parsley. Both kings lay down their weapons and talk. When the second king gets to know about the first king’s compassion for the mother dove, they finally agree to seek peace instead of war. Eventually, the dove bird became the symbol of peace—the happy ending of the war.

European Myth

Do you know what superstitious European people believe about dove birds? They believe that witches and devils can turn themselves into any bird they want except the dove.

Japanese Peace Symbol

People in Japan use dove birds with a sword, which symbolizes the end of the war.

American Folktale

In American culture, people believe that the spirit of recently deceased people takes the form of a dove. Through their gentle presence, peaceful birds have woven themselves into histories of cultures all around the world. People believe that if you hear a dove’s call, it means good luck is said to be coming your way.

As a spiritual bird, doves bring a message of peace and hope to hearts. We should never overlook these pretty creatures.

Dove appears as the symbol of Judaism, Christianity, and paganism. They are enduring symbols of the family being together.  The trick is to understand what the dove is telling us.

We often see the symbol of the dove used in the wedding ceremony. In the funeral ceremony, the real intention of releasing the dove is to remove the soul right from the earthly responsibility. Most ironically, in most marriages, we do the dove casting for the wedding ceremony, which is the binding of two souls.

Dove is the potent symbol of nurturing and motherhood because, on a physical level, the dove has a unique capacity. After all, both parent doves can feed their children. So, birds understand the feeling of sacrificing their nature of feeding.

Eyes: The windows to the soul — Read More


4 Comments

4 Comments

  1. Sadaf Irfan

    Very informative article, keep it up!

    Reply
  2. Adeela Malik

    Komal Fatima,
    I’m Impressed by your work.
    Keep it up.

    Reply
    • Iqra Aslam

      Great information, impressive work👌🏻

      Reply
  3. Adeela Malik

    Komal Fatima,
    I’m impressed with your work.

    Reply

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