Their colors are a grayish brown back with a buff underneath, black spots on the wings, and a black spot shaped like a comma below and behind the eye.
They have a graduated gray tail with longer feathers in the middle and white tips bored with black on the outer feathers. They have a small, thin black bill, dullish red legs and feet and dark brown eyes.
Males are larger than females and show more color with a bluish cap, pink chest and neck feathers and three white outer tail feathers. The female is graced with an olive gray cap and a tan breast. Neck feathers can be
greenish or pinkish with one or two white outer feathers. Their wings make a musical whir or whishing noise.
Diet:
The Mourning Dove eats seeds and feeds on relatively bare ground but can be attracted to gardens and backyard bird feeders.
They can be found across North America breeding from Cuba north to Southern Canada and New England, and wintering from Southern Illinois and New York to the Greater Antilles and Panama.
They feed in pairs or flocks. In the wild they will eat pine nuts, wheat, corn, sesame, canary grass, sweet gum, amaranth and pokeberry seeds. At feeders, they prefer sunflower, safflower and millet seeds.
Nesting Habits:
Mourning Doves breed in all kinds of open areas. They like to build flimsy platforms made of twigs, pine needles and grass stems. They prefer building these platforms in trees, shrubs and other vines growing as high as 50 feet. They will make nests in man-made structures.
They have only two white eggs in each clutch and may have five to six broods a year. They never leave their eggs unattended and both female and male take turns sitting on the nest. They are monogamous and keep the same partner for life, but if a Mourning Dove looses its mate will find a new one.
More Information:
This is a beautiful wild bird that makes its home throughout most of North America. They are at ease in all types of terrain--the deserts of Arizona, northern and eastern forests, the farmland of the Great Plains, and even in populated urban areas.
The Mourning Dove is considered the most abundant game bird in North America and is among the top ten most abundant birds in the United States.Their song sounds like Òcoo-OOH, Ooo-Ooo-OooO. An interesting fact about the Mourning Dove is that when they are building a nest the female stays at the nest site and the male bird collects the sticks. He then stands on her back to give her the sticks and she then weaves them into their nest.
Click below to see contributions from other visitors to this page...
When will they come back?
We moved in 4 years ago to a large old house in PA. The previous owners had constructed an attractive branch arch on the porch and over the front door....
doves in my hanging flower basket on front porch...
I had a hanging flower basket on my front porch and went out to water new plant (well seeds) I had just placed to find a dove.
I thought she would ...
Sweet Doves
I am concerned that after one successful brood, one of the pair may be hurt (or worse) since it has not returned to the recent nest they've made in the ...
Studying Our Mourning Doves
I've had a pair of mourning doves nesting in the rafters (and the collected yard stakes stored across the rafters) below our upper deck, about 11 ft off ...
Baby Mourning Doves
I need help ASAP!! While cutting brush a nest was torn down. There were 2 babies in it. They were saved but the nest site is gone. Saved some of the nest,...
A Dove Story
Towards the end of May a very special series of events occurred on our front porch. A set of parent doves kept flying in and around the porch railing ...
New bird family
My brother-in-law passed away after a battle with lynphoma on February 25. My husband and I immediately flew to Tulsa to attend the funeral and be with ...
Mourning Birds are Loving
We feed the birds in our area and mostly get Mourning Doves of which we are particularly fond, but also get those darling Golden Finches, a few Cardinals,...
Donna's Angel
Strange as is this story sounds it is true!
My mom passed away at the age of 51 after fighting a 15 year battle with lung cancer.
When mom passed ...
Mourning Dove Nesting
I have a Mourning Dove (I have named her Paulina) nesting on a patio chair on my apartment balcony. The past few days it has been down pouring, usually ...
A Pair of Morning Doves
I have a breeding pair of morning doves and they like to come and eat at my feeder.I have not found a nest but I bet it is well hidden. Lets hope they ...
Help! Pigeon or Dove?
I saw this bird in my backyard and took a picture of it because I haven't seen a bird like this before in Texas. I need it identified though. I think it'...
Mourning Dove seem to have left her nest with eggs unhatched??
We are a bit worried. She laid the eggs in our hanging basket on our back patio. with all the recent pool activity in our yard, they seem to have flown ...
Doves in my flower basket .
I notice about three weeks ago, that two doves were on my palm tree out in my back yard.
They have a nest in my orchids.I watched them out my window ...
Morning Dove Left Her Nest
Not a great story but wanted to share so I could learn more about our Morning Dove who built a nest on the top shelf of our plastic storage area on the ...
Broken Wing Trick!
I discovered the nesting dove at the side of our house where we have our storage bin for patio furniture and our tool rack is there also.
She had ...
Mourning Doves and Sweet Peas Help
I have a question/curiosity - which I'm hoping you can answer for me. I enjoy the birds on my property and continue to add feeders to encourage their ...
Mark's Song
We first noticed the Dove in our backyard nesting on top of our TV satellite, on Saturday MARCH 27th.
Strangely it was also the day my Brother would ...
Grandma Jean
I live in the Permian Basin Area of New Mexico, halfway between Roswell and Carlsbad along the Pecos River. For years, I have been feeding finches, wrens,...
Dove and rain
There is a pair nesting, however, we are getting rain and I am worried they don't have adequate protection. What can I do or should I stay clear?
Saving my dove babies
I have a dove nest in my yard that I have been watching for weeks. The other day I finally got a chance to see the babies. They are on the top of our arbor ...
LR
We found an abandoned baby in the yard. It was hungry and thirsty. It is still quite young, the tail is barely as long as the wings. It has the spikey ...
Baby Dove fallen from nest...
After a heavy rain storm a baby dove was blown from its nest... The mother dove and father dove was with it on the ground... I could not see the nest... It ...
Doves in a basket
We have a pair of mourning doves nesting in a hanging flower basket on our back deck. We have watched them build the nest, and now have seen one egg. My ...
baby born with 1 leg
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My doves had a baby and One foot works the other just hangs there...Is it possible for a dove to live with 1 leg?
Doves on the porch
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This year Mourning Doves have been
nesting on my porch. They seem to
be use to me because I have to walk
a foot from their nest everyday. Curiously
...
Coming back again
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We were happy to find a dove nesting on our deck. It was fun to watch them build the nest, and see the female sitting on her eggs outside our window. We ...
Bird in Pool
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One day my family returned from an outing to find a mourning dove flopping in our pool while a cat was tracking it around the pool. We quickly got the ...
Need Mourning Dove Help!
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I think we have a mourning dove mom and baby in our urban yard. The patio is all cement and the baby has been on the ground. the mom comes and goes. She ...
When will the eggs hatch?
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I have a pair sitting on eggs, but it has been about a month and no sign of babies. Wonder how long pair waits before giving up or trying again?
Comment ...
My Precious Doves!!
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Hi I have a pair of morning doves that have come back to nest in my hanging baskets for the past three years. They have four broods each year so far and ...
I helped build a nest for them...
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A pair of mourning doves tried for several weeks to build a nest, on my front porch, on a 2 by 6 inch ledge.
But every twig they put in place eventually ...
Tiffany and Tommy
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I have a pair of Doves who first made a nest on a ladder hanging from the eaves of the house 4 years ago. This year when they came back again my neighbor ...
Doves raising a Robin?
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We have a Mourning Dove that took over a Robin's nest. We think one Robin egg was pushed out, but one was left and now the Dove is sitting on two of her ...
DOVE FAMILY IN THE VENTURA HARBOR VILLAGE,CALIF.
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I discovered a nest being constructed by a pair of Doves over the open patio of my clothing boutique about 2 weeks before Easter. I could easily see the ...
Found Dove egg on ground
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Two weeks ago I placed a Dove egg under my nesting pet Canary and she is taking care of it. I recently checked to see if it was fertile by putting the ...
Mourning Dove
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We had to cut down a Palo Verde tree. To my dismay there was a nesting mourning dove. I asked the guys to save the nest. I put it in a
pine tree. They ...
Leti's Doves
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A couple of year's ago my sister Leti was so proud just like a Grandmother when the Dove's built their nest right outside her back door. She locked that ...
My mourning dove
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I have a mourning dove who landed in my flower hanging basket. I went to water it and she flew away. Before I watered, I noticed a hatched egg and added ...
doves
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Have lots of mourning and ground doves all year long in the Florida panhandle. I like hearing the sound of both. And like the fact that they clean the ...
Mourning Doves or Morning Doves?
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Are they the same bird? If so, why do some spell it differently when the definitions are different? I have an ongoing dialog with a friend everytime ...
THE LOSS OF MY BABY DOVE "BABY"
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My doves had a baby dove; this dove was born with a bunch of problems mainly neurological.
Sadly she's not here with me any more, but I still hurt....
Doves in Robin's Nest
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It's alrady September, and I'm a little concerned that a pair of doves have taken over an empty robin's nest near my kitchen window. Is that unusual? Will ...
Doves on the 12th floor.
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We've got doves and chicks in a balcony planter. I'm a little worried about them learning to fly as they better get it right the first time. We are twelve ...
Please, tell me what's best to do
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I discovered my dove couple roosting in the base of a plastic container, which held an expired poinsettia, on my potting bench just outside my patio ...
Mourning Dove Eggs
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Here is a picture of the two Mourning Dove eggs in my planter.
Comments:
Great photo! Mourning Doves really are one of the laziest of birds when ...
Doves in My Planter
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I have a mourning dove who has nested in one of our hanging plants right outside our back door. She has laid 2 eggs so far and seems to be adjusting to ...
Nesting Mourning Doves
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I have two mourning doves nesting on our backyard patio, I noticed them a couple of weeks ago when i saw a bunch of sticks covering the ground.
I ...
saving my dove babies picture
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The little ones are growing so fast! I will miss them when they leave.
Saving my baby doves
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I took this picture of them. They are getting big
