In the previous Mishnah, we concluded with a double statement: what’s okay for Shechitah (ritual slaughter) doesn’t work for Melikah (ritual bird slaughter), and what works for Melikah is not okay for Shechitah. So we’ll follow a similar type of statement pattern in the next Mishnah and the one afterward. It won’t have to do with Shechitah, but it will follow that same pattern.
We’ll talk about the two types of birds that are fit to be korbanot (offerings): the dove and the young pigeon. The Mishnah says, “What’s acceptable for doves is unacceptable in the case of pigeons. What’s acceptable in the case of a pigeon is unacceptable in the case of a dove.” What we mean here is that doves are fit to be korbanot only after they have fully matured. Pigeons are fit to be korbanot only when they’re young, before they begin to mature. So once full maturity hits, which the doves need in order to be acceptable as a korban, the pigeon becomes problematic. At the stage of youth, which a pigeon needs to be at, the dove is not able to be offered as a korban. So they don’t overlap whatsoever.
The techilat, the middle stage, the transition point between youth and maturity for these birds, which happens when the feathers begin to yellow around the neck of the bird, is a time that’s unacceptable both for the dove and for the pigeon. The dove is too young at this stage to be a korban because it can only be offered if it’s mature. And the pigeon is too old to be offered. It is no longer at that point of non-childhood. It’s not a youth anymore, and therefore it cannot be offered.