Yávan Dove

The yávan dove is a breed of domesticated dove found in southern and central Filia, popular for its friendly, intelligent nature and its colorful plumage. Shirocúcua doves have been a popular pet in Scalados for thousands of years, bred for their pure white feathers and docile temperament. However, they cannot be used as messengers due to their low intelligence, and are almost always kept inside because they lack the instinct to navigate home or outwit predators. In contrast, the brilliantly-colored paradise doves found in the wild along the southern Filian coast, while intelligent, are difficult to handle and aggressive towards most people who cannot communicate directly with animals. The group of wood elf settlers that landed in Filia during the Age of Integrity that would become the ancestors of the Kala'adrin traveled with their pet shirocúcua doves, who had difficulty adjusting to the hotter temperatures of Filia. Druids of the Circle of the Brilliant Canopy bred these doves with the wild paradise doves to create the yávan dove, which quickly became popular on the island.

Basic Information

Dietary Needs and Habits

Yávan doves are frugivores who primarily eat small fruits found in the forest canopy: figs, banyan, and Paglá'osuna.

Additional Information

Domestication

Yávan doves are a domestic species, though feral populations exist (primarily in northern Sona). Eating them is taboo, but they are intelligent and quick messenger birds, used to carry notes and tiny symbols (such as flowers). They are particularly used for this purpose in communication and community rituals by the priests of Yava'manna-el-Filia. Yávan doves are also bred for show, and dovekeepers select for particular colorways to create distinctive lines. Several royals and wealthy families of the area have developed their own colors of yávan dove. Pictured below is one such example, the Sonan Robustin Family's yellow-and-blue-feathered breed.