Experience with doves

Mrs Armstead bought some doves to school today and she talked to us about them. We found out that Mrs Armstead's mum has more than 60 doves! She showed us the number ring on each dove and explained that each year, the colour of the rings changes and that is how she can work out how old they are. The number rings are put on the doves when they are a few days old.

We got to touch the dove if we wanted too. Holly described the experience by saying, "It feels like a pillow!"

We asked Mrs Armstead some interesting questions:

• Why do doves need legs? (Ryan)
• Why do doves have numbers? Wouldn't heaps of doves have the same numbers? (Fleur)
• How do you get the rings on? (Josh)
• What do doves eat? (Charlie)
• How do you tell if the bird is a boy or girl? (Devashree)
• How far can doves fly? (Kalais)
• What happens if the dove flies in the rain? (Shivani)

Eight children were given the chance to hold a dove and to release it! It was really exciting especially for Charlie on his birthday!

This morning at 9:30am Rooms 21 and 22 sat on the deck of the classroom to watch ten fat doves fly away. The doves belong to Mrs Armstead’s mother who trained them to know how to fly back home. She trained them when they were small by letting them fly home from a short distance from home, and then gradually moved the distance further and further away. Mrs Armstead said that doves can fly from Christchurch to Auckland if they have been trained well! They are so clever! If the doves get lost they can be identified by the number on their legs. It was very exciting when we watched some of our friends hold the doves and then release them!

By Room 21 students