Mourning Dove
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Description:
Mourning Doves get their name from their mournful song. They are a medium-sized wild bird ranging from 9 to 13 inches with a wingspan of 15-18 inches. They weigh between 3.04 and 6 ounces.
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.
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What Other Visitors Have Said
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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 ...
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 ...
Doves on the 12th floor.
Not rated yet
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 ...
Mourning Dove Nesting
Not rated yet
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 ...
Please, tell me what's best to do
Not rated yet
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 ...
Help! Pigeon or Dove?
Not rated yet
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 Eggs
Not rated yet
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
Not rated yet
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
Not rated yet
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
Not rated yet
The little ones are growing so fast! I will miss them when they leave.
Saving my baby doves
Not rated yet
I took this picture of them. They are getting big
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