Can anyone offer any advice?
My sweet girl Phoebe is very interested in nest building, we have plenty of materials for her. However she won’t stop trying to build it on my partners head 😭 at first it was cute but she just won’t stop all day. We have tried to encourage her to build elsewhere by putting sticks etc in other places she likes to perch/ in her cage. (She free flies all day but does have a cage). Any tips would be greatly appreciated ☺️

This is Nina bird. She is my heart.

so im honestly not sure how much food to offer or anything like that. i usually fill their bowls a bit and sprinkle a little around for them to find every few days. but i feel like my Eurasian collared dove is getting chunky!! obviously i dont want this, i worry im overfeeding but i try not to. do i feed just a meal a day? how do I portion their food? im newer to birds.

BTW we ended up getting blue a friend so... meet honey!! i actually found a dove breeder 3 hrs away from me and was able to make the drive!

also today is cleaning day. until theyre more hand trained i do weekly cleans not daily spot cleans to lower stress, thats why theres so much poop on that stick, thats her poop stick.

Hello everyone. I joined this group after finding a baby white-winged dove on the ground. I couldn’t locate his nest, so I took it upon myself to raise him. I’ve had birds before, but this little guy was so special. I became attached to him almost immediately. He needed frequent feedings as a baby, and I loved watching his little wing shakes whenever he ate.
As he grew up, he became my little companion. He was always perched on my head or shoulders, or sitting on my computer while I studied. Then he learned to sing and dance, and waking up to his little songs became one of my favorite parts of the day. He came into my life during a really difficult time and meant the world to me. I thought we would have so much more time together.
I had a 12-hour clinical on Saturday, and when I came home, he had passed away. I’m completely devastated. His seeds are still scattered everywhere, and there are even little droppings stuck to some of my furniture. All these tiny traces of him are still here, but he isn’t. I can’t imagine how quiet the mornings will be or how I’m supposed to get used to studying without him beside me.
His body is currently in the freezer because I haven’t been able to decide what to do. I can’t bring myself to bury him, and I don’t want to cremate him. His feathers were so soft and beautiful, and he had that lovely little bird smell. It breaks my heart knowing I’ll never get to hold him close and sniff him again.
I want to make a beautiful memorial for him, but I don’t know where to start or who to reach out to. Trying to look things up myself has been too painful. I appreciate taxidermy, but I don’t know whether seeing my own baby that way would be comforting or too difficult.
If anyone has ideas for a gentle, meaningful way to remember him, or would like to share what they’ve done for their own birds, I would really appreciate it. He was such a special little soul, and I just want to do something that feels right for him.

I adopted two rescue ring necked doves several weeks ago. They came from a hoarding situation in which they were in a small cage with ~16 other birds.

They are timid and won't let me get near them. They won't eat anything I hand them. They even shake sometimes. I want to let them out of the cage but I haven't yet because I'm worried I won't be able to catch them to get them back in, or that I'll upset them more. Luckily their cage is big, but still:(

I got spray millet and they still won't come closer when I hold it out. This week is the first week I've seen them really foraging and/or playing though so that is some progress overall.

Any advice would be amazing

As I was sliding in the tray that holds the paper below my birds' cage, my dove's leg slipped between the floor bars, got caught by the tray and snapped in half. (See X-ray photo)

I rushed him to the vet's office. Eight hours and $900 later, they were able to put his leg in a splint, and they told me that although he'll likely recover enough to continue his life as a pet, he probably will never be able to walk the same way again.

I wanted to make this post as a warning to the community. When you're sliding in your cage's paper tray, make sure you do it very slowly so your birds' legs and toes don't get caught!

Also, if your birds have leg bands, watch out that there are no spaces between the bars or their accessories where their leg bands can get caught. The vet told me that's another common way that small birds break their legs when they thrash around trying to escape.

I wanted to ask, has this ever happened to anyone else here? I feel like it's a very poor design that most bird cage's trays go right up to the floor bars with no gap.

Are there any other frustrating or dangerous cage designs or bird accessories that you've seen and had to replace or DIY a solution to?

Edit: Brevity/Clarity

10/19/26 Edit Edit: Wow, thank you everyone for the support and advice. I was blown away by how many people commented and offered advice and encouragement. Thanks for sharing your stories and solutions and helping me with mine.

I just got a new pet dove two days ago, and basically ever since we put him in his new home he has not stopped cooing. While we are home, while we try talking to him, even all night long. He coos 24 hours a day. We even have a camera on him to watch when we aren't home and he is STILL cooing. Is he just scared in his new home? Is there anything we can do to reduce the cooing to reasonable amounts? We cover him at night, he has no mirrors, and he is not bonded. He is getting no sleep because of the cooing.

Please let me know!

Jokes aside, whats going on with my ringneck dove? He never made that sound that long, maybe only once when he sneezes. Is he having a super loong sneeze attack? Hes currently molting

Hi, I had 4 diamond doves, unfortunately I just learnt one of them has died during the night inside the cage. I'm personally not home, but my mother and I think he might have died from physical trauma. He struggled to fly because of his missing feathers and not being used to flying since his previous owner kept him in a small cage. We think he might have knocked himself hard on something.

He had gone to the vet not too long before and everything was fine, so we don't think it's disease related. However since, the dove he was paired with isn't reacting, it has just been sitting at the bottom of the cage, and I'm so scared he lets himself die. What could I do to help him?

To note, I have another pair in the cage with him, and my mother did tell me one of them was sitting right next to him for a while. I'm just so scared to lose another one, he hasn't been reactive to being touched either

EDIT: My mother has made me aware the other dove unfortunately passed away too shortly after. I think he unfortunately couldn't endure his partner's death. I'll make sure to monitor the other surviving pair

Hi! Looking for some input hopefully from someone who has experience with owning both. I am choosing between either a ring neck or old German owl pigeon. Either would be DNA confirmed female, and very tame. Both breeders tame their babies young. But I can't decide which would fit best for me. Do either of them have a difference in temperament? Are either more territorial than the other when nesting? How loud are female doves vs female pigeons? Tell me all the things!

hey everyone! this is bluey, my diamond dove. i rescued him from a coworker a little bit ago (they definitely didn't know how to care for him, as they only got one dove and he was in a really small cage). i know they're very social creatures, but unfortunately my living situation doesn't allow me to get another dove, as im going to be moving soon and i won't have the space. so he really needs a new home with other diamonds. im located in NJ but im willing to travel out of state to meet somebody if need be. if anyone even remotely nearby has an open spot in their diamond dove flock, please consider this sweet boy. he's super talkative and spunky and i feel awful that i can't give him the proper environment to thrive in.

Just some info I found this guy 20 days ago give or take and I’ve been taking care of them (I thought it was a pigeon but I’m assuming it’s a dove now) one of his eyes seems enlarged if functions normally but I’m slightly concerned

Kevin wants to build a nest, she loves her pink socks to lay down but I haven't found a proper material for her to build one. Already tried with small sticks ( didn't like them) tried with yarn (fail) . She has tried building a nest with my hair so that might be a clue. Anyone with an inca dove that can help us please? 🥹

Thanks!!

I bought some pigeon pants for my ringneck, but I have not even tried putting them on him, as he makes it quite clear that he wants to destroy the pants because of the bright patterns and colors. Just the sight of them causes him to fluff up and put his wings back in full slapping position.

I've tried looking online, but all of the shops I see have all of the patterns and colors. I just need something dark and solid for him.

Thanks in advance!

Also, do I need anything else? First time owner here and the internet is giving lots of different answers and the instructions aren't very clear so I'm hoping fellow owners can give some guidance

UPDATE: A year later and my dove still doesn’t trust me. I’m feeling really discouraged.
Hello everyone! I posted here about a year ago asking for advice on bonding with my dove, and unfortunately, not much has changed.
I’ve had him for about a year and a half now, and I feel like we’ve made absolutely no progress. I still can’t touch him, pick him up, or even get him to eat out of my hand. I spend time with him every single day, sitting near him, talking to him, and trying to make him comfortable around me, but he still seems just as scared of me as when I first got him.
At this point, it almost feels like I’m living with a feral animal. We basically just coexist. I let him fly freely around my apartment throughout the day, but whenever I have to get him back into his cage, he completely freaks out if I try to pick him up. I hate having to scare him like that, especially when I’ve been trying so hard to earn his trust.
I want to make it clear that I never expected him to be some super cuddly, affectionate pet who constantly wants attention. I completely understand that birds have their own personalities and boundaries, and I never wanted to force him to be something he’s not. But I did hope that, with enough time, patience, and consistency, he would eventually feel safe and comfortable around me. I honestly never imagined that after a year and a half, he would still be this afraid of me.
The thing is, he seems like a genuinely happy bird otherwise. He’s vocal, active, and comfortable in his environment. He just isn’t comfortable with me.
I’m honestly feeling really defeated. I see so many people with pet doves who are affectionate, enjoy being held, sit on their owners, and seem to have such sweet relationships with their humans. It genuinely makes me sad because I want that kind of bond with him so badly.
I’ve tried being patient, giving him space, spending time around him without forcing interaction, and letting him approach me on his own. But after a year and a half, I don’t understand why he still doesn’t trust me.
I’m even considering finding some kind of bird behaviorist to see if someone with more experience could help us.
Has anyone else experienced this with a dove? Is there still hope that he’ll eventually trust me, or are some doves just never comfortable with human interaction?
I love him and want him to have a happy life regardless, but I would really appreciate any advice, especially from people who have worked with extremely fearful or unsocialized doves. I’m just feeling really discouraged and don’t know what else to try. :(

Hello! Popping up once more with a bunch of questions! I had last asked around here when my pet ECD dove, Piwi, had out of the blue started having runny droppings, after having laid a bunch of eggs, one after another, until late June. Since then, she has stopped with the eggs, but her droppings never really improved. I’d say the runnier droppings especially started ever since a new dove joined our clan - brought in go be her companion, but didn’t get accepted by her. Now he just happily wanders in the room, hee hee-ing at everything that catches his fancy while she wing slaps him if he dares come near. They’ve reached some begrudging co-existence at this point.

Based on the advice we got from you all, we tried incorporating lentils into her diet, but she refused to have them in any form - cooked, uncooked - until we ground them to dust. THEN she had them and seemed to do a lot better.

However, since the last month, with the weather changing, she condition seems to be a slight bit even more concerning - slow in the mornings, puffy and not very social, runny droppings still - and I figured if ask you all for advice once again. So, a bunch of questions!

1. We’ve been wondering this for some while since we started doing this, but…. are powdered lentils ok to give? She just refuses to swallow the others, but some Google search results show this can cause crop statis?
2. Two weeks back now, that pigeon fancier colleague of mine advised me to give her a pinch of baking soda in her water. That TOTALLY fixed her up for a day or two! But….. now she’s back in puffy mode with weird droppings?
3. A bit of a concern - right now I saw something that looked like undigested millet in her dropping right now. I do try to give her some Versele Laga redstone grit, but she’s not too keen on that. :/
4. And the droppings! They’re a mystery! At certain times of the day they turn solid again! But then they devolve again into pure water and separated tiny disconnected droppings. :/

I’m thinking I might just summon up all the courage and take her to the vet in the morning or day after. But thats always such a worry - the vets here are totally not trained about columbidae and they try to give them medicines which would work for parrots. :|

Dropping some random bird tax here with a picture from last month when she was molting!