For the birds

I don't know how I forgot to mention this...Thanks to Jennifer for the reminder. I am a pretty observant person and sometimes I see things that I wish I hadn't. Don't worry this isn't one of those times exactly.

A few weeks after Emma arrived at Montessori they had some visiters move in! The Birds arrived and they are the first thing you see when you walk in the door to the EP and Primary  building. They are beautiful but as far as I can tell very quiet.

Fast forward 4 months and we will pick back up after Christmas break. I always look to see what the birds are doing with I drop Emma off and when I pick her up. Aparently not all parents are as into the birds as me, or even the employees for that matter because one day I walked in on...uh hum...dove sex!! It was just like this which I found on the Diamond Dove home page.

Mating

The male diamond dove usually begins the mating sequence by finding a nesting site and then repeatedly call (advertising call) for a female to join him and start building a nest. If he can persuade the female that he has an adequate nesting site then he will start carrying twigs and straw to the site while she arranges the material in a way that will withstand the weight of the parents and the babies  Nests are fragile affairs often made up of interwoven gasses and/or twigs.
Later, on the ground, the male will display his tail feathers like a fan, while touching his beak to the ground, and cooing at the same time in the presence of the female. After repeating this action the male will mount the now crouched female and using his wings for balance, mating will take place.  After mating the male will utter a long series of one note coos and the female will often freeze in place while these coos are being uttered.  I have not seen this series of coos documented in any of the literature however it seems to be a common practice with all our males.
But there are some other sequences that may also take place. Sometimes the male will puff up his feathers and strut around in the presence of the female, stop, puff his feathers up further, then repeat the cycle.
Sometimes separately or at the end of this display, the male will open his beak and the male will feed her with a rather violent pumping action (billing).  After this the male will mount the back of the female then dismount on one side and slap his wing downward with considerable force and an explosive sounding cry.  They will bill again and and then he will remount the remount the female and dismount on the opposite side.   Then this action will be repeated a third time and the male will dismount form the original side.  Then copulation may follow

I was lucky enough to see the highlighted part. I thought it looked funny then I started to think...you know it's been a while since these birds arrived, are they going to mate? I asked the staff and they weren't sure but felt like it should be happening soon if it was going to. (there are several different pairs of different birds)

Each day I asked about our little love birds who started spending more and more time in one particular nest. I decided the mommy was definitely with egg but with no way to know for sure I just had to wait.

But not too long!! By Jan 31st they were spotted...two little eggs!!

By Feb 4th we had two hatched babies

They have grown so quickly as this picture was taken just 11 days from their hatch date!

Now mommy and daddy leave the nest more frequently and I am sure that before you know it the babies will fly the nest. But now I have another question...where will these little babies live?? Will they stay with their parents or go to another home...

I am really far to inquisitive for my own good. :-)

Be blessed!
Jill