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                                                        General information for The Dovecote Loft
                                                                       Contact us: Click here



                                                                                                   

A white dove release is symbolic of celebration, new beginnings, peace, love, serenity and the Holy Spirit. They have been used in ceremonies throughout  the world for centuries.

The bird commonly known in America today as the homing pigeon was originally known as the Rock Dove.  Since our birds are pure white rock doves, and there is a much more romantic association with the term dove as opposed to the term pigeon in our culture, we have decided that calling our birds white doves are the most appropriate name we can call them for the work they are doing.

The birds are actually white racing/homing pigeons, with the ability to return to their loft from hundreds of miles with the proper training. Our birds have been trained for many hours, and are very good at returning to their home loft. After a release, when there is no head-wind our birds average around 50 miles per hour.  This means that they almost always arrive home before we do. Our homing pigeons are selectively bred and are not the same as the pigeons you might see in the city parks. Never release ring neck doves like the ones sold in pet stores. It is certain death for them. They have no homing ability, no survival skills, and doves are one of the hawks favorite snacks! They will not live! Our birds can out fly most hawks and falcons! They come home because they love their loft, and they know they are safe when they are there.

Here is  what will happen if you release untrained pigeons you bought from a pet store. They have never flown, and will not give you  the performance you want.   Click here for the untrained dove release video


Because we want our birds to successfully return to our loft every time they are released, we spend a lot of time with the training process.  We also keep our birds in optimal health through a regular vaccination program, special feeds and supplements, and a clean and healthy loft environment.  A lot of time and expense is involved in keeping our birds fully trained, prepared, and in optimal flying condition.

Although the birds may look identical, they all have individual personalities, and we consider each dove special and unique. Although they are all banded with numbers, they each have a name we use for them.

Nobody knows for sure how pigeons are able to find their way back home from hundreds of miles away. Scientists think that pigeons can detect the earth's magnetic fields. This means that their brains work like a compass to figure out north, south, east, and west. Scientists also think that pigeons can tell direction by looking at the position of the sun in the sky. That's one of mother natures mysteries no one has been able to figure out yet.

Because pigeons have better eyesight than humans, they have been used to help in search-and-rescue missions. Pigeons have been trained to spot the orange life jackets of people lost at sea. The pigeons are carried by helicopter over the ocean. When they spot a life jacket, they peck a keyboard, which sets off a light. Then the helicopter moves closer and more slowly over the waves until the humans are able to see the life jacket.

Doves are monogamous, they choose a mate, and stay with that mate for life.

Homing Pigeons were used  to bring back results of battles, and in World War I and World War II to carry vital messages. Many books have been written about their heroic feats, in which they were often injured by shell fire during their delivery of vital messages. Their vital messages have saved the lives of many thousands of combatants and civilians. When total radio silence is necessary or where radio communications have been cut-off, they may be the only means of communication. They have provided the balance between victory and defeat in many crucial engagements, delivering their vital messages even over large bodies of open water, through rain and fog over high mountains and against treacherous winds. In 2003, the Austrian army was reported to have lost patience with the ability of enemy troops to listen in on its radio communications and decided to reactivate its corps of carrier pigeons. After having been retired from use for years, Homing Pigeons are once again utilized to get messages back from the front line.

We release only well trained, well cared for white racing pigeon stock which are banded with seamless bands.

We have one large display cage for 2 doves, or 2 smaller single dove display cages. For a display you get 2 doves, your choice of one large cage or two small cages.

We use 2 decorated white release baskets, for the releases.

What about the birds "soiling" at the wrong time? We feed our doves a special diet in order to virtually eliminate the possibility of this happening.

The 8 dove release is the most costly, but we believe the  most impressive release we offer. Why does it cost more to release more birds? More birds are at risk of not making it  back to the loft,  if a bird is lost, a  replacement bird must be hatched, raised, vaccinated  and trained which takes many months and much expense to get the bird to working status.