The Dovekie primarily has two main roles in its life in regards to interspecies interaction: to eat and to be eaten. This page deals specifically with the latter.  If you are looking for what a Dovekie preys upon please see the  Feeding Habits page.   Dovekies are preyed upon by many animals to include Foxes, Gulls, Rats and believe it or not, humans.   Kiviak is a traditional winter food from Greenland that is best described as stuffing a few hundred Dovekies into an oily seal's skin and placing the mix under a rock to ferment. The resulting food is by most peoples' current standards inedible;  however for the Native Indians it was a crucial food supply in the winter and early summer when food was otherwise non-existent. The Dovekie's eggs were also taken and frozen for food. One can imagine how much different a Christmas celebration would be with Dovekie eggs and Kiviak on the menu in place  of the ham and Christmas cookies.  A fascinating article by Mr. Elmer Ekblaw, linked here ,  is dated 1919 and gives a good feeling of how important the Dovekie was to the native Eskimos of  Greenland in fending off starvation.                                                  

If you would like to see a modern day depiction of Kiviak check out this video, although stylized it is very informative. 

 

 

  In the interest of further education some images of content that may be disturbing to viewers is present, please be aware.  If you would like to see the predation images please click on the link below.

                                                                               * Predation Link *

                                                                 

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