Senegal doves nesting!!

[Jayburd]

Hey all,
My male Senegal has been carting bits of grass around!!!
One problem, he seems to be building on top of a nest box - and having seen the barbary dove nests at work, I have a sneaking suspicion the eggs will just roll straight off. Is there something I can do to stop this? They didn't like it at all when I put up some modified ice-cream containers as nest sites.

Which brings me to a funny anecdote. I could see from the kitchen window he was having difficulty with a long bit of grass, so I grabbed my binoculars and went to the sunroom to watch him.
It turns out, he was having difficulty picking it up because......
He was standing on it.
He didn't seem to realize this, and continued tugging for a good five minutes before (with what I fancy was a slightly surprised look) realized he was standing on it, moved to one side, and flew up with it.
Yep, not the brightest of animals!!!

[Pete Sara]

if you have a small terracotta dish that could sit on top comfortably , I would put it there or wire the base of a icecream container to the side, as long as it has some sort of a lip so the eggs dont roll of just like the one in this pic.... pete

DSCN4282.JPG

[finches247]

Doves are not the smartest birds like they build on slopping surfaces,in feed dishes and as you say on other birds nest.When i provide nest pans and icecream containers they usually accept them but some dont .Another nest that is working good for me and mate that has bleeding Hearts is deep fried baskets for frying chips and doves i mean make good nests for doves I get the old ones from the local fish & Chip shops.The eggs wont fall of as soon as he weaves his nest together as makes a wall around eggs and if top of the nestbox is flat eggs wont fall.

[Jayburd]

Thanks for the replies guys
Pete, the problem is they hate unfamiliar stuff - I don't want to disturb them too much, or cause them to desert the nesting site.
Thanks Henry, I'll give some of those ideas a try in other places. The nest box roof is indeed flat, so I'm hoping they know what they're doing!
One other thing - I put in some twigs, which he ignored. Shall I just provide grass and stop putting in twigs?

[finches247]

Grass,Twigs,Hay,Some like feathers too when finches are not breeding that is what they like

[Jayburd]

Awesome, thanks Henry!

[Pete Sara]

Fingers crossed young fella I would let them be and see how they go. You could allways set up some other sites when you can so they become familiar with them, just see how they go for now as the bleeders are the same I just put some hay in the nest. But they do have a thing for teracotta dishes especially with food in. Birds are such funny creatures at times... pete

[Jayburd]

Thanks Pete yep I'm going to set up some plastic and terracotta plant pot bases, and get some actual dove pans
I'm very excited - I love doves, love handling the super-tame chicks at work!! Hope these will be as friendly!!
Also once I've bred these a few times id like to move them on (preferably to a bigger aviary somewhere) and get some peaceful doves

[Jayburd]

Just lined out a terra cotta dish with some grass and placed it on top of the next nest box along. Will let you know how it goes

[Finch_Breeder]

Good luck