Question. Has anyone ever seen this as a stress behavior in

[Cye]

Diamond doves. I recently bought two from a pet store, they had just been vet checked. One of them, the lighter of the two, sometimes will hang it's head back over it's back. It doesn't do this all the time, and is capable of righting it at any time it chooses. They seem to be eating fine, and I've even started hearing some cooing, so they seem to be settling in just fine. Has anyone else ever seen this? AS I said, they'd just had them to the vet to be checked out, and nothing came back..

[Hilary]

Do you mean that it's bending its neck backwards (and looking up), or looking back towards its tail and tucking its beak into its back feathers? I haven't seen that behavior in my doves so am trying to picture what it is doing.

[Cye]

Bending it's head back, so the top of it's head is nearly resting on it's back.
It really does seem to be a stress thing, as now most of the time the poor thing seems to have it's head on right. But should something startle them, it'll go right back to it. Can still at any time decide to put it's head right again if say wanting to walk or fly. I've been hearing more and more cooing from their cage, not sure which is doing that. Seen both of them eating away just fine.

[MiaCarter]

Agreed with Hilary, it's hard to visualize.

Turning the head and sort of looking over the shoulder isn't all that odd. Many birds sleep like this.

If he's lifting his chin and tilting his head back and looking up that way, it would be a bit strange.
Not something I've ever seen in a dove as a stress behavior, but I've seen individual birds come up with strange coping mechanisms/behaviors. Often, they'll form as a result of a medical issue, which then resolves, but the behavior remains.

My concern would be that it could be something like an inner ear infection, which could impact balance or something akin to twirling. I've never heard of twirling in a dove, but I'm sure it's possible.

I've also heard of some animals experiencing apparent vertigo as a response to stress. I've only seen that twice: once in a dog and once in a bird (and that bird was epileptic, so we can surmise that brain wiring/electrical activity wasn't all that healthy. So when taken as a whole, an abnormal response to stress hormones wouldn't be all that strange or unexpected.)

Don't let the fact that they were vet checked ease you into a feeling of complacency. I know many new owners make this mistake, erroneously attributing illness symptoms to a quirk or nervousness or stress or whatnot.
A vet check typically consists of a brief physical exam lasting five minutes or less. There's not typically any sort of prolonged observation, bloodwork or other diagnostic work. (Unless there's something to cause concern.) Non-constant behaviors/symptoms like what you're describing can easily be missed.
The stress of a new home can tax the immune too. So while the bird may have been healthy at the pet shop or breeder's, the stress of going into a new home can take a huge toll, leaving the animal prone to opportunistic illness.

In all, I wouldn't be worried just yet, as long as he's eating, drinking, pooping and looks/acts relatively healthy overall.
I'd just keep an eye on the situation. Videotape it if you can. That's super helpful for showing us and a vet if you find you need to seek treatment.
I might offer him a good multivitamin, some good food, and offer some electrolytes (you can do a homemade solution or mix in some unflavored pedialyte into his water 50-50.) Electrolytes are great for stress (and a depletion of electrolytes can be very fatal, very quickly....not to mention, it can trigger some serious neurological ailments.)
I'd also offer a heat lamp. That can do wonders for a stressed bird to help their body de-stress and return to normal.

[Cye]

Uploading a picci of my two dovies, it's been busy around here! They've both been seeming to do well, been warming up to the place and at least one has been doing a lot more cooing. The light gray one is the one that has been having the issue. It's not presenting in these piccies. I'm going to try and get a picci this evening, as it seems to act up more in the evening. I'm fairly sure the darker is male, as it has a thicker eyering. The other.. I'm not entirly sure. It seems maybe a little puffy, but not quite like the other.

[Cye]

And here is a picci of the strange behaviour s'he' is presenting.

This current episode seems to be brought on by lowering the light in the evening, which is done in stages. First the main light, then later the daylight lights. It's how I do the lights every evening, and would think this gradual lowering of the light wouldn't be that stressful after two weeks. Same every night, no sudden plunge into darkness..

Now if I were to bother this little one, it could set it's head right and go trotting off. It walks fine, eats fine, droppings look fine color and consistency-wise. The two of them usually are snuggling side by side on the perches, or raiding the food dishes together. When one isn't sitting in it to make it a challenge, the other one is

[Atbird]

Sounds like twirling or stargazing. http://beautyofbirds.com/stargazing.html

[Cye]

I was under the impression that stargazing was a nearly permanent twisted carry of the head while affected. I didn't think they could set their head right.

[Hilary]

Definitely bizarre behavior! I wouldn't worry too much, though, as long as it otherwise appears healthy and can perch and eat. It sounds like you're doing what you can to minimize stress, and hopefully as they continue to settle in the behavior will stop. Thinking it might be male from the color of the eye ring. I'd watch for bow cooing - surefire way to sex them (kind of like when a society sings).

[vinay]

My male Laughing/Senegal dove does this too. Its usually a sign of stress . Don't worry about it too much .
If you feel they're stressed , watch out for feather plucking . My diamond pair completely plucked the feathers out of each others' back in a day when I moved their cage to another room . The feathers grew back soon enough but I was quite shocked when it happened .

The brown one looks quite different . Any idea as to what mutation it could be ?

[monotwine]

Indeed you have an oddity there.

But I too wouldn't be concerned if it behaves correctly in all other ways. I remember my Indian Green wing dove got attacked by a hawk from above (hawk collided with wire and obviously never got my bird), but for a year after that if ever a large shadow past overhead of my dove he did something similar with his head, thrown backwards and keeled over playing dead. Just a tactic for self preservation.

I think perhaps your dove just needs some time to overcome its change / perceived stress.
If it gets worse, then you can worry. Cute funny behaviour though.

[Cye]

It's done it less and less frequently. And as I've said, it's fine in all other aspects. I wasn't too concerned, but I did want to err cautious and was curious to see if anyone else had seen this. I'm more familiar with your parrots and their behaviors. I still start to worry when I see one on the bottom of the cage, just doing their dove thing.

As for their colors, the light gray seems a blue white rump, the darker gray, I'm not sure. It's got darker gray spotting on it's head, some tinging of brown that the picci made really show up, and black tail. I haven't handled them as yet at all to see how the wingfeathers look. But I've not seen any piccies so far that I'd say hey, that's it! Maybe Rufous, but that seemed more brown

[MiaCarter]

Well that's curious, isn't it?!

Agreed with all the others: if she can "snap out of it" at will and seems okay otherwise, I'd chalk it up to a strange stress behavior.

If it were twirling/stargazing, she wouldn't have the control to snap out of it at will. And she would likely be struggling in other ways.

Very lovely, though!
I hope she settles soon.

Question: What are the dimensions of that cage that they're in?
It looks like a great size for doves.

[Cye]

MiaCarter It's a finch flight cage. I was assured that it would do quite well for two little dovies. It's 18x18x30 and was the closest thing they had to something suitable. Hopefully it is, I spent most of my Christmas money on them and that cage!

[MiaCarter]

Cye - Ah, I know the exact cage! I've got several myself! It's the Petco flight!

They must be small as that cage looks a lot bigger than 18x18x30!

You know what's great about this cage?
If you find they need more room, you can get a second of the exact same cage. Then, remove an end panel from each cage and connect them end-to-end.

Petco often has that cage on sale too, so I always try to scoop at least one when they become available! (And if you do "repeat delivery" the price drops to around $36. You can set the recurring delivery to once a year or just get it at the lower price, then cancel repeat delivery.)

It's a great cage for the money.
They do have a tendency to sag when you remove the tray. And it can cause the floor panel to un-hook from the back wall. But if you put a few zip ties on the corners, that reinforces it and prevents it from sagging/unhooking.