A heartbreaking loss

[Birdmom4ever]

I can't stop crying. I'm mourning the loss of my favorite ringneck dove, a rescue named Hercules. He came to us just a couple months ago, found in the yard of an old church friend of mine. I intended to pass him along to a woman I know via the rescue network who wants more doves, but we all fell in love with him and decided to make room for him. My husband promised to build me a proper dove aviary, but we haven't gotten that far.

We named him "Hercules" because he was quite large for a ringneck. He was incredibly tame and had obviously been someone's pet. My guess is that he was kept in a tiny cage indoors and not fed a proper diet because his feather condition was terrible. His wing shield feathers were frizzy, his breast feathers dirty and tattered. All his tail and flight feathers were broken off and had stress bars in them. And he was so tame he would always come over and "talk" to us. He was almost molted out and he was looking just as beautiful and smooth as I'd imagined he would. I gave up one of our other male doves to a good home and paired Hercules with one of my favorite hens, Petra. They seemed very happy.

This morning I found Herc lying dead on the floor of his small aviary. When I picked him up I saw that his right wing and shoulder were covered with blood. He didn't just die--he was brutally killed. Then I saw that the tray of the cage was pulled part way out and shavings scattered. These little aviaries have sturdy welded wire on them with openings approximately 1/2" x 3/4". I thought that was sufficient to keep predators out, but apparently I was wrong. I've had doves and pigeons in those cages for seven years and we've never had a problem. I'm so careful; we retrofitted them with latches and I lock them every night.

I'm just sick over this. I feel so horribly guilty. I took Hercules in because I wanted to give him a safe place where he could enjoy a long, happy life and instead it led to his brutal death. Not only that, I gave away Petra's mate and now she is alone. I'm heartbroken.