About Doves

Doves mate for life. They symbolize purity, love, fidelity, prosperity and good luck. They are a symbol of peace in every major religion.
They were often used by God as messengers and representatives of the Holy
Spirit

Luke 3:22:
"the heavens were opened and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a
dove and alighting on Him."

We use the term "dove" symbolically. The birds at Ceremonial Doves are actually White Homing Pigeons; also called White Racing Pigeons, or Rock Doves.

White Ringneck Doves (those normally found in pet stores) are dependent on humans for food. They have no skills to avoid predators, and they are not strong flyers. If released, these birds will most likely end up as a meal for a cat, a hawk, or some other predator.  Releasing white Ringneck Doves is cruel and inhumane. Ceremonial Doves of Tidewater releases only well trained white homing pigeons.

Despite their reputation, pigeons are actually very clean animals and there is very little evidence to suggest that they are transmitters of disease.

Ceremonial Doves of Tidewater places the health and safety of our beloved doves first and foremost. For this reason, we adhere to a humane release policy with strict provisions to protect our birds from dangerous circumstances.

How do our doves find their way home?

Homing Pigeons have an uncanny ability that enables them to read the earth's magnetic fields; in addition to this ability, they have a remarkable memory. They also use their sight, hearing, and possibly even their sense of smell to find their way home from hundreds of miles away.

Racing pigeons trained and conditioned are able to fly more than 500 miles at speeds over 60 mph. Racers can fly for 14-16 hours non-stop.   
 
About Our Doves

Our doves are well cared for and loved. Their health and safety are our top priority.

Doves are highly intelligent birds. Ours are fed a specially formulated diet to keep them healthy and they live in a clean loft at our home.
They have been trained to return home immediately following their release.

The birds begin training for our release service at an early age. They first fly around their home loft. As they get stronger, they are released at various locations and longer distances on a daily basis. This conditions them and trains them to route home. Many hours are spent to keep the birds safe.

Our doves love to fly. Their daily exercising, outside of their release events, provides them the freedom to take long flights away from home simply because they love flying. When the birds are released at your special event, they are not being forced to do something they don't enjoy. They love flying and we are proud to share their beauty with you and your guests. 

The doves each have their own personal perch within the loft.
The birds are permitted free loft exercise each day (weather permitting) which
keeps them in excellent physical condition to make the return flight from their scheduled release locations.

Ceremonial Doves of Tidewater uses only well trained healthy release doves (White Homing Pigeons) for releases. 
Their safety and wellbeing is very important to us. 
Our birds receive extensive training to enable them to safely return to our home loft after your event. When released, our doves will usually fly directly into the sky, possibly circle and when they have their bearings, return to their home for a healthy feast