Mourning Dove

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.

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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 manmade 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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Mourning Doves are one of the most beautiful birds to visit our backyard feeders. Unfortunately not everyone gets to see them. If you are fortunate enough to see them in your yard please tell us about them.

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