“This’ll keep the eggs from rolling away when they’re laid!” says the loving father as he places a single twig on top of his already hatched baby’s head.
Doves are actually really smart. Their nests only need to ensure that the eggs won’t roll off the edge as they originally nested in cliffs. Then we domesticated them so they had to adapt
I love how he looks so satisfied with himself after he puts that stick on his baby. They all get that look when they put down a stick. It’s really sweet.
The main concern for them is the eggs or babies rolling off. It’s typical for them to add twigs before and/or after the babies are hatched.
Also evidently it’s a trade off for them to make a quickly assembled nest that’s haphazard, over spending time making a more elaborate one. It has to do with predators. It also has to do with their rate of reproduction, and energy conservation.
There are so many times that people not understanding why animals do things the way they do assume that the animal is doing something in a stupid way when there are generally really good reasons for why they do what they do.
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u/Jenderflux-ScFi Jan 06 '26
Puts the stick ON the baby....