Much is made about how Doves are monogamous. Just wondering – do they ever divorce?
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Yes, but only when they’ve exhausted mediation.
Take Tony & Tina.
Tony first caught Tina’s eye a few miles west of Dayton where she was perched in a suburban Oak tree. He kept flying up from the ground and beating his wings and then gliding back to the ground in a down-turned spiral. Tina admired the large blackish spots on his inner coverts and decided Tony was six ounces of all man.
Soon after, Tony scouted the neighborhood for housing and located something just right. It was the crotch of a tree 19 feet from the ground. Both Tina and Tony worked together to build a cute nest made of loosely woven twigs, weeds, grass, and pine needles. “But I can see the ground through the bottom of the nest,” Tina said to Tony, who was drinking a Miller Lite after a long day. “Shouldn’t we make it stronger?” But Tony only ruffled.
One night soon after, Tina laid an egg. A cute white egg that was followed the next morning by another cute white egg. By day Tina would fly around town on errands while Tony minded the eggs, and by night Tina would collapse exhausted on her eggs while Tony worked the night shift. One day they noticed an enormous black dog. They could see him through the bottom of their feeble nest. He barked at Tony and Tina. And barked and barked. Tony and Tina exchanged glances and decided to move a few miles east to Huber Heights.
Tina thought about her two abandoned eggs as she and Tony loosely gathered the twigs, weeds, grass, and pine needles that would be the foundation of their new home in guess where? The crotch of a tree 19 feet from the ground. “There’ll be other eggs,” Tony cooed. Tina looked around. “But I can see the ground through the bottom of the nest,” she said. “Shouldn’t we make it stronger?” But Tony only ruffled.
A few nights later Tina laid an egg. A cute white egg that was followed the next morning by another cute white egg. Except two days after that the neighbor’s weed eater startled Tony and Tina from their nest and both eggs fell through a hole in the nest floor. “There’ll be other eggs,” Tony cooed. Tina rolled her big black eyes.
A few nights after that Tina laid an egg. A cute white egg that was followed the next morning by another cute white egg. By day Tina would fly around town on errands while Tony minded the eggs, and by night Tina would collapse exhausted on her eggs while Tony worked the night shift. Fourteen days later the first egg hatched! And it was so adorable, observed Tina, just like a miniature Tony. Except with poky yellow fur and a giant alien eye.
And the next day the second egg hatched. Both Tony and Tina worked so hard that first week to regurgitate enough pale-yellow crop milk for their babies. The second week Tony and Tina worked together to collect buckwheat, corn, peas, and weeds to regurgitate to their babies. At night Tina would fall asleep exhausted with the Princeton Review Guide To Best Colleges propped against her cinnamon-brown belly.
Two weeks later their kids flew the coop. “There’ll be other eggs,” Tony cooed. Tina hit him with the back of her iron skillet.
But Tony was right, and a few weeks later Tina laid an egg. A cute white egg that was followed the next morning by another cute white egg. By day Tina would fly around town on errands while Tony minded the eggs, and by night Tony worked while Tina collapsed on her eggs wondering why she didn’t go to the Barbizon School of Modeling back when she had the chance.
And so the summer passed with that batch of babies – and then one more batch of babies. When fall blew the leaves from their tree, Tony and Tina abandoned their nest to join a larger flock of friends wintering in Riverside. Tina clucked with her friend Bernice who had spent the summer as a single parent dove in a rickety nest in Stillwater Junction. The truth of the matter was: it didn’t sound half bad to Tina.
So when part of their flock decided to pick up and migrate to Memphis, Tina resolved to leave Tony and join them. “But there will be other eggs!” Tony pleaded as he fluffed up his feathers. “That’s what worries me,” said Tina, as she preened the white tip of her graduated tail.
Tina’s wings produced a fluttering whistle when at last she swept up in the sky to begin her 538-mile journey. Tony watched her grow smaller against the white horizon. Then he spotted a cute little number two limbs over. Tony flew up from the ground and beat his wings and then glided back to the ground in a down-turned spiral.