Rainbow dove

The **rainbow dove** (*Arapavocolumba manipulata*), also known as the **rainbow pigeon**, is a species of pigeon that originally did not exist, but has since been created by SciiFii as an exotic pet as well as, for feral populations, introduced throughout the rainforests, wetlands, forests, and open woodlands across North America to help boost biodiversity. The closest living relative of the rainbow dove is the rock dove (*Columba livia*). During the species' creation, the bird's bright and vibrant colors were genetically grafted from many colorful birds such as macaws and bluebirds. The birds were made disease tolerant and resistant by combining genetics of the immune systems of several other species of birds. They were also given a greater resilience to damage by being given genes from reptiles, who often survive injuries that would kill a normal bird or mammal. Today, the rainbow dove is a highly sought after exotic pet due to its damage resilience, readiness to captivity, and for its beautiful plumage. Unlike its relatives, the rainbow dove has a strong gut able to digest spicy, sugary, salty, and even rotten food, meaning that it can make the most of every kind of food available to it. The rainbow dove can have a wingspan between 68-75 centimeters (26-29 inches) across and can grow to be 30-36 centimeters (11-14 inches) in length. The males have a more vibrant plumage than the females, who lack the tall head crests, and the males use their brightly colored plumage for courtship display, and the pair will dance in sync, strengthening their bond. The crop of the rainbow dove produces crop milk to feed its young, but it is also used to act as a defense against predators such as big cats, canids, bears, birds of prey, and among others. Juveniles and non-breeding adults are able to spit a very diluted form of its crop milk as a defense. The fluid is watery, foul-tasting and irritates the eyes, allowing the bird to escape. The rainbow dove, however, is reluctant to spit this fluid at sapient species, including humans, due to being bred to only spit at natural predators, so it would be a more acceptable pet and allowed to live in cities and suburbs more easily. As a social and gregarious bird, the rainbow dove lives in large flocks and it is rare to see a rainbow dove on its own. The rainbow doves are known to live in mixed-species flocks alongside rock doves. The rainbow dove breeds year-round in the more tropical regions, but in the more temperate areas, they breed during the spring. The pair of rainbow doves seek out a sheltered area to build a simple nest, and the female will lay 1-5 eggs. Once the young leave the nest, they will stay with parents for several months, in order to learn everything they need to survive. The average lifespan of the rainbow dove is around 8-10 years, although there are reports of individuals living longer, with some living as long as 15 years. Like many other brightly colored birds, the bright plumage isn't present at birth, instead the young are covered in grey down. The juveniles have grey plumage and will moult into adult plumage once they reach sexual maturity. This gives the young birds added camouflage when their parents are away from the nest, which is similar to those of rock doves, and also prevents them from being seen as rivals from unrelated adults. The intelligence of the rainbow dove is far greater than those of the rock doves and its relatives, being about as smart as several parrot species. The rainbow dove is able to tell apart different people, and can memorize hundreds of faces and outfits. This allows the bird to remember which people feed them, and those that seek to do them harm. The rainbow dove has the ability to learn to utilize local transportation systems in more densely populated areas in order to travel between areas with ease. The rainbow dove's natural homing ability, memory and ability to sense the earth's magnetic field allows it to easily use the local transport for its own benefit. It will use both visual signals, audial signals and the magnetic field to know which train to board on and when to get off. The young birds also spend quite a long time with their parents to learn the routes. They will also board buses and occasionally catch a ride on the roof of cars. The rainbow doves learned to hold themselves instead of defecating while riding on man-made vehicles, as defecating on vehicles isn't tolerated. When entering trains, the rainbow doves stay put in an area, usually together with the redthroats (*Raphaetanas galla*) if they're also present on the train. If the rainbow dove recognizes a person that usually feeds it, it may even chose to perch on his/her shoulder for the duration of the trip, but they will read the body language and expression of the person to assure that it is safe to proceed. The conservation status of the rainbow dove is **Least Concern** due to successful conservation efforts, the rainbow dove's wide range and its tolerance to many of the human activities.