Dove were tested for progesterone-induced incubation after they had acquired previous experience with from
one to five different phases of their initial breeding cycle. A sixth group had no previous breeding experience.
Previous breeding experience inclusive of at least the nestbuilding phase of the cycle is a significant facilitator
of incubation behaviour induced by injected progesterone, but previous experience with only the courtship
phase was not sufficient. Experience with phases additional to nestbuilding increased overall nestresponsiveness
without significantly increasing the number of birds incubating. The nature of a ring dove's
previous experience is therefore an important influence in its behavioural response to exogenous progesterone