Diamond dove or Cockatiel?

[ElisaDove81]

Hi everyone, I am going to be moving into an apartment soon and I can't decide whether to get a diamond dove or a cockatiel. My husband is worried if I get a cockatiel it would be too noisy and he thinks the diamond dove would be perfect for where we are moving into. I am unsure what to do because I love both species of birds but I can't decide which one to get. Does anyone have any experience with diamond doves or cockatiels that could share their input? I would appreciate it. Thank you

 

[yickenscarf23]

I know nothing about doves but I had cockatiels as a teen and they would whistle and chatter but never the screeching that the larger parrots do. Definitely never got too loud. I loved them and highly recommend. Just get a hand fed baby

 

[JaeG]

We have cockatiels too and we adore them. We have 4 that we hand reared ourselves from 3 weeks and they are all so unique in their personalities.

I've never had a Diamond Dove but we do have a Ringneck Dove we handled a lot as a chick. She's funny and likes to jump on our shoulders or heads but sees us as potential mates so she does a lot of cooing (and even bowing) trying to get our attention and she will push her beak into our fingers to try and get us to feed her as a male would. She does have another female dove to interact with but they don't seem to be the best of friends really. The other dove is still quite young. I do think doves do best with another dove for company unless you are home all the time.

Doves don't really like to be touched so it will depend if you want something that will enjoy a scritch and a kiss or are happy just to have the companionship. Also, I don't think it would be fair to clip a doves wings (as they can't use their beak to climb) whereas a cockatiel is quite content and able to get around without having to fly everywhere (and clipping their wings does reduce the places you have to clean).

Hopefully someone on here has Diamond Dove experience they can share.

 

[ColtHandorf]

I breed both cockatiels and diamond doves. The better question to ask is why do you want the bird and how large an area (cage) can you devote to it. Doves are not climbers and require cages with a larger horizontal footprint in order to properly exercise. Cockatiels are hookbills and can make do with a cage that is more vertical as they use their hooked bill to climb about.

 

[ElisaDove81]

I breed both cockatiels and diamond doves. The better question to ask is why do you want the bird and how large an area (cage) can you devote to it.

I actually have a pretty large cage (24 x 17 inches and 34 inches tall) so I think either the diamond dove or the cockatiel would have plenty of room. I like diamond doves because they are more quiet and I believe less messy - but cockatiels are more interactive birds but are more messy and produce more dust. I like both of them to be honest...but I know my mom used to have a cockatiel years ago and he was supposedly hand fed as a baby but he was a mean bird, always hissing and biting the sides of the cage. We tried to tame him a bit but he was a biter for some reason. I know they aren't all like that but I know the diamond doves don't bite. Thank you for replying

 

[ElisaDove81]

We have cockatiels too and we adore them. We have 4 that we hand reared ourselves from 3 weeks and they are all so unique in their personalities.

I've never had a Diamond Dove but we do have a Ringneck Dove we handled a lot as a chick. She's funny and likes to jump on our shoulders or heads but sees us as potential mates so she does a lot of cooing (and even bowing) trying to get our attention and she will push her beak into our fingers to try and get us to feed her as a male would. She does have another female dove to interact with but they don't seem to be the best of friends really. The other dove is still quite young. I do think doves do best with another dove for company unless you are home all the time.

Doves don't really like to be touched so it will depend if you want something that will enjoy a scritch and a kiss or are happy just to have the companionship. Also, I don't think it would be fair to clip a doves wings (as they can't use their beak to climb) whereas a cockatiel is quite content and able to get around without having to fly everywhere (and clipping their wings does reduce the places you have to clean).

Hopefully someone on here has Diamond Dove experience they can share.

Thank you for replying, I am leaning more towards a diamond dove to be honest because they are smaller and less messy and more quiet. I am a little afraid if I do get a male cockatiel and he is a loud bird it may drive my husband nuts with the loud screeching, but then again not all male cockatiels are like that so I don't really know.

 

[JaeG]

Cockatiels have a loud contact call they'll greet you with as you walk in the door. Some mutations make the offspring sexable but you'd have to get a bird off a good breeder who knew what mutations their birds were carrying rather than from a pet shop. Lutinos and cinnamon are more likely to be hens as they are both sex linked colours meaning hens are visual for it if only their father is visual for or carry the mutation, but cocks need to get that mutation from both parents.

A hand reared Bourkes parakeet could be an option (if you can find one). They don't like to be touched but are sweet little things who are very quiet, only singing their pretty song at dawn and dusk. The rest of the day they snooze.

 

[ElisaDove81]

Cockatiels have a loud contact call they'll greet you with as you walk in the door. Some mutations make the offspring sexable but you'd have to get a bird off a good breeder who knew what mutations their birds were carrying rather than from a pet shop. Lutinos and cinnamon are more likely to be hens as they are both sex linked colours meaning hens are visual for it if only their father is visual for or carry the mutation, but cocks need to get that mutation from both parents.

A hand reared Bourkes parakeet could be an option (if you can find one). They don't like to be touched but are sweet little things who are very quiet, only singing their pretty song at dawn and dusk. The rest of the day they snooze.

Oh I didn't know that, so you mean the yellow cockatiels are mostly female?

 

[JaeG]

Oh I didn't know that, so you mean the yellow cockatiels are mostly female?

The solid yellows and solid whites (which are whiteface lutinos) are more likely to be females as males need to inherit the colour from both parents whereas females just needs their father to be visual or even just split to lutino. A serious breeder would probably have lutino pairs but with backyard/hobby breeders who only have a pair or two it's less likely. Just make sure the eye is red as you can get clear pied birds that lack any grey markings but their eyes will be dark. Lutinos have red eyes.

 

[todasaves14]

Hi everyone, I am going to be moving into an apartment soon and I can't decide whether to get a diamond dove or a cockatiel. My husband is worried if I get a cockatiel it would be too noisy and he thinks the diamond dove would be perfect for where we are moving into. I am unsure what to do because I love both species of birds but I can't decide which one to get. Does anyone have any experience with diamond doves or cockatiels that could share their input? I would appreciate it. Thank you

If you want quiet, Diamond doves are very pleasant and easy to care for. I absolutely love them, they are precious, however, be sure to get a pair, doves can easily get lonely and need companionship; best of luck.