Pigeons and doves | Columbidae

Duiven | Palomas

Both parents produce a protein-rich crop milk and feed the young on it for the first days; that allows a long breeding season, with clutches following one another in quick succession. The nest is a loose, often see-through platter of twigs holding almost always two white eggs. The feathers sit loosely in the skin and come away in handfuls at the slightest grip, leaving an attacker with a mouthful of down. The call is a muffled cooing made with the bill shut and the throat inflated; many species also have a display flight with clapping wings and a glide on raised wings.