The American Dove Association Diamond Dove Standards

[The drawing above is by Diane Jacky and may not be used or duplicated without written permission by the artist.]

Standard for Diamond Doves

General Condition: The Diamond Dove, by its very nature, is a fast flier, it should have, when at rest on a perch or on the ground, a racy, streamlined and alert look to its carriage and body. Feathering should be smooth and tight over the entire body. Feet and legs should be free of feathering, clean, and the skin shiny and bright. A healthy bird never should never sit hunched up, eyes closed with feathers rumpled. The body should be firm and solid. Overall measurements should be about 7-1/2 to 7-3/4 inches long, from tip of beak to the end of the tail and about 2 inches wide at the wing butts. The widest part of the body should be across the wing butts, gracefully tapering to about a single feather width, 7/16 inch, at the center of the tail. Care must be taken in handling the birds to avoid feather loss and damage. Colors of feathers are to be in accordance with the accepted standard.

Posture: The stance should be roughly at a forty-five degree angle when the bird is standing quietly. The tail may touch the floor when not crouching. In this position the dove should be standing approximately 3-1/2 inches high.

Beak: The beak should be light gray, darker at the tip, with a small pale pink fleshy cere. The beak should be long, about 7/16 to 1/2 inch, rather than short, pointed at the tip flaring to about 3/16 inch at the base. Placement is even with the eye. There should be very little waddle protrusion on the beak of any dove.

Eyes: The location of the eye should be very near the center of the head. The eye, measuring about 3/16 inch across, has a dark pupil with a deep red iris. An orange fleshy ring encircles the eye. Being narrower on the hens, about 5/16 inch across, more pronounced in the males, about 3/8 inch across. Both sexes eye ring show to be about 5/16 inch in height. The ring can become quite pronounced in mature males.

Head: The head should be a little long, about 1 inch, rather than short, measuring about ½ inch across at the eyes and about 5/8 inch across at the widest. It should not be flat-headed, but with a smooth round curve. There should be a gradual break at the beak and graceful curve to the top of the head, then a graceful curve down the back neckline with no protruding feathers. The gullet should have a smooth and continual curve.

Neck: A shorter neck is more desirable than a long, rangy one. It should taper from the body to the head in a shallow, smooth curve. No frill feathers on the nape of the neck.

Body: The body should be approximately 2 inches in length from the nape of the neck to the top of the rump, giving a long look, rather than short. The underside should measure about 2-1/4 to 2-1/2 inches in length and about 1-3/8 to 1-1/2 inches wide. There should be no bulging in the chest area, no frill feathers, no wing butts protruding to break the smooth general curving of any part of the body conformation. In general, the body should be well proportioned and nicely streamlined to present a pleasing appearance to the eye. The bird should be fully feathered and free from vermin, dirt and lice. Feathers should be tight and close to the body.

Wings: The wings should be closely folded against the body with the coverts well overlapping the back and with no sideboards sticking up to mar the smooth covering on the back. The wing, when folded, measures about 3-3/4 inches from the top of the shoulder to the tip of the primary. Outstretched, it measures about 5 inches long from the body to the tip of the primary, about 2-1/2 inches from the front edge to the tip of the secondaries, and should be slightly rounded at the end, not pointed. When it is folded against the body, the wing tip should be approximately 3 inches from the end of the tail and not drag below the tail. Flight feathers should number at least 18 on each wing, after a full molt.

Rump: The rump should be almost straight with no hump to disrupt the smooth line of the body contour from the nape of the neck to the end of the tail. It measures about 3/4 to 7/8 inch at the widest and about 1 inch long.

Tail: The tail should have fourteen strong feathers, about 4 to 4-1/4 inches in total length. Folded it should appear about one feather in width, about 7/16 inch, tapering to a soft rounded tip about 1/8 inch across. Tip of the tail should extend about 3 inches from the tip of the folded wings.

Legs: The legs are a fleshy pink and should be short and sturdy, measuring about 3/4 inch from the body to the joint, about 1 inch from the joint to the tip of the toe. Legs and feet should be free of feathers or signs of leg mites. When the bird stands at ease, the feet should be slightly extended forward as if it is ready to take flight. From the side view, the legs should be parallel.

Colors and Varieties:
Some 16 colors and varieties are bred at this time to include: Blue or Wild Type, Silver, Cinnamon, Red (a variety of Cinnamon), Brilliant, Yellow, Ocher (a combination of Yellow x Cinnamon), Peach (a combination of Yellow x Silver), Pied, Blue White Tail, Silver White Tail, Cinnamon White Tail, Brilliant White Tail, Yellow White Tail, Blue White Tail Pied & Snow-White (a combination of Yellow, Silver and White Tail).

These Standards were adopted by the American Dove Association in October of 2000.