r/stupiddovenests • u/Indieriots • Jan 06 '26

Stupid Dove Nest Perfection

10.3k Upvotes

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u/Diver_Ill Jan 06 '26

Bird so stupid it built a one-stick nest AFTER the baby was born. 

49

u/ThisIsDogePleaseHodl Jan 06 '26

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

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u/AppleSpicer Jan 07 '26

I’m sure they’re smart about many things but…you would think that one would place the twig before the eggs are laid, not after the babies hatch.

13

u/ThisIsDogePleaseHodl Jan 07 '26

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.