Doves are gentle, beautiful birds that can provide hours of enjoyment for backyard bird watchers. However, attracting these timid birds requires offering them the proper type of bird seed. There are many types of bird seed available at pet stores, so choosing the right option for doves can get confusing. This article will examine the unique nutritional needs of doves and recommend the best dove bird seed mixes to attract them to your yard.
What Do Doves Eat?
In the wild, doves eat a variety of small seeds, which they pick up off the ground. Types of natural dove food include grass seeds, wheat, corn, milo, millet, safflower, black oil sunflower seeds, nyjer, oats, and buckwheat. Doves have slim, delicate beaks that are perfect for eating small seeds but can’t crack open large seeds with hard shells.
Doves also need grit, which contains calcium and other minerals they use to digest food. In the wild, they get grit from pebbles on the ground. Providing bird grit in a separate feeder will attract doves to your yard.
In urban and suburban areas, doves have learned to scavenge for food provided by humans, including spilled grains from livestock feeders, wheat and corn at cattle ranches, rice at poultry farms, and bird seed offered at backyard feeders. Supplementary feeding by humans provides up to 25% of the annual food intake for doves living in populated areas.
Recommended Dove Bird Seed
When buying or mixing your own dove bird feed, look for these key ingredients:
- Millet: The tiny seeds of millet are one of the favorites of ground-feeding doves. Millet is small enough for them to swallow easily.
- Safflower: Doves relish these white, nutritious seeds. Safflower seed will attract doves while deterring larger birds like grackles and starlings.
- Cracked corn: The small pieces of corn in dove mixes provide energy and carbohydrates.
- Black oil sunflower seeds: These small, thin-shelled sunflower seeds are easy for delicate dove beaks to crack open.
- Nyjer seed: Also called thistle seed, the small size of nyjer suits doves perfectly.
- Peanuts: Chopped peanuts offer protein and fat for energy.
- Wheat, milo, oats: Doves will readily eat these inexpensive grains.
The ideal dove seed mix contains around 70% grains and small seeds like millet, safflower, cracked corn, and 30% black oil sunflower seeds and peanuts. Add nyjer seed, oats, wheat, or milo to vary the mix.
Avoid These
Some common bird seed ingredients should be avoided in dove feeders:
- Whole corn: The large kernels are difficult for dainty dove beaks to pick up and swallow.
- Unshelled peanuts: Doves can’t crack the shell to reach the peanuts inside.
- Large seeds: Big seeds like striped sunflower are impossible for small doves to eat.
- Wild bird seed mix: The typical mix contains sunflower chips, cracked corn, millet, and milo. However, the pieces are too large and diverse for ground-feeding doves.
- Wood chips, twigs, dried fruit: Doves won’t eat these common bird seed additives.
- Seed coated in oils or flavors: Plain, uncoated seeds are best for doves.
Dove-Friendly Bird Feeders
Doves are shy, so putting out the right style of bird feeder can make a big difference in whether they feel comfortable visiting your yard. Here are the best feeder options to attract doves:
Ground Platform Feeder
This simple platform sits at ground level so doves can scratch and peck to pick up seeds. Include a mix of small seeds and grains. Platform feeders are easy to make using a large tray or board with a raised edge.
Low Tube Feeder
A tube feeder with small perches and seed ports close to the bottom will accommodate ground-feeding doves. Tube feeders protect seed from getting wet. Look for tubes with seed ports sized for small seeds that doves like.
Mesh Bag Feeder
These allow doves to peck at seeds through tiny openings in the mesh bag. Hang them just a few inches off the ground. Seed stays protected from moisture inside the bag.
Ground Tray Under Tube Feeder
Arranging a tray or ground platform under an elevated tube feeder will catch spilled seeds for doves to eat. Add grit or fine gravel to the tray too.
Dove Feeder Placement Tips
Proper placement of dove feeders can make your yard more attractive to these skittish eaters:
- Set feeders in quiet areas away from activity and noise.
- Keep feeders in open spaces where doves have good visibility to watch for predators as they eat.
- Scatter seeds on ground around feeders. Doves prefer to forage for scattered seeds.
- Place feeders near trees or shrubs where doves can escape if frightened.
Meeting Doves’ Nutritional Requirements
Doves need a balanced diet to stay healthy. They require a mix of seeds and grains to provide:
Protein
For growth and muscle maintenance, doves need a diet with around 16% protein content. Black oil sunflower seeds, peanuts, and nyjer seed provide protein in dove mixes.
Carbohydrates
Grains like corn, wheat, oats, and milo give doves an energy source high in carbohydrates.
Fiber
Millet and safflower seed supply important crude fiber that aids dove digestion.
Fat
Oily seeds like safflower and sunflower provide concentrated calories from fat. Peanuts and corn also boost the fat content of dove seed.
Calcium
Nutrients like calcium and phosphorus support bone health and growth. Dove grit supplies essential calcium and minerals.
Vitamins
A variety of grains, seeds, and nuts offers complete nutrition with all the necessary vitamins for doves.
Choosing the Best Dove Bird Seed Mixes
Look for dove seed mixes with a variety of the tiny seeds, grains, and nut pieces that doves naturally eat. Avoid mixes with filler ingredients doves won’t eat. Read labels to check percentages of each seed type. Here are top-rated dove bird seed mixes:
Wagner’s Greatest Variety Blend
With white millet, red millet, cracked corn, black oil sunflower seeds, peanuts, nyjer, safflower, and grains, this Wagner’s mix provides everything doves crave. It contains no cheap filler seeds.
Audubon Park Songbird Mix
Specifically formulated for ground-feeding birds like doves, this mix from Audubon has cracked corn, white millet, red millet, milo, safflower, sunflower, and peanuts.
Feathered Friends Peaceful Dove Mix
A favorite of dove owners, this Feathered Friends mix has a perfect balance of grains, tiny seeds, and nut pieces ideal for doves.
Kaytee Supreme Dove Mix
With a variety of millet, safflower, corn, and sunflower seeds, Kaytee’s mix attracts doves. It contains no cheap filler ingredients.
Pennington Dove and Quail Mix
Specifically made with ground-feeding doves and quail in mind, this Pennington mix contains white millet, milo, cracked corn, safflower, and sunflower.
Making Your Own
You can easily mix up your own dove bird feed using a simple homemade recipe like this:
- 70% white millet
- 20% safflower seed
- 5% black oil sunflower seed
- 5% cracked corn
Customize your homemade mix by adding nut pieces, nyjer seed, oats, wheat, grit, etc. Buy bird seed ingredients in bulk and combine different proportions until you find a mix your local doves go crazy for.
Conclusion
With their petite beaks and timid nature, doves have unique bird feeding requirements. Offering doves specialized seed mixes designed for their natural diet is the key to attracting these graceful wild birds. Choose mixtures dominated by tiny, dove-friendly seeds and grains. Avoid blends with filler seeds or large pieces. Place feeders on the ground or low platforms where doves feel safe eating. Providing doves with their favorite foods will bring a gentle beauty to your backyard.