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Wild Birds

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.

Please tell us about the Mourning Doves visiting your feeders.

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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What Other Visitors Have Said

Click below to see contributions from other visitors to this page...

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 ...

Ajex and my cat- how our wedgetail became a family member
i was about fourteen and i was in the backyard and my cat was hissing at these magpies that were swooping it. my cat salem (yes a fan of sabrina the teenage ...

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 ...

Mavmacaw
I have numerous doves who feed from the feeder and from on the ground. They are cautious about using the birdbath when other birds are present, but they ...

Dove Has returned for second Time This year
I had a hanging basket and the plant died over the winter. I noticed there was a dove in the basket one morning when I looked out the kitchen window. I ...

Mark S. of Springfield, PA
Well we have a front porch on our home. Across the front of our home each spring I place five 10 inch hanging flower baskets. I was surprised to see in ...

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 ...

Rain Crow
I have lived in northwestern Georgia all
my life and my father and grandfather
referred to the mourning dove as the
"rain crow". Because of their ...

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 ...

Dining Mourning Doves Not rated yet
Last year I seem to have had more doves than this, but am still blessed with their visits to my yard. They like eating from the ground up and down my ...

The Mourning Bird Visit Not rated yet
I was surprised to see a mourning bird on my balcony outside of my screen door sitting on a table. When I open the door he flew to the railing and sat....

Clean-Up Crew Not rated yet
My Mom is an 84 year old widow in Virginia who loves to sit at her dining room window and watch the huge variety of birds (and other animals) visiting ...

enjoying Mourning Doves Not rated yet
We are blessed with mourning doves eating and cooing in our yard, They like eating sunflower seed and corn.I love how they bobble there heads and walk....

Nan in Kans Not rated yet
When I was young, just a kid, my dad used to say that when the rain crow called that it would be two or three days until it rained. I got to thinking ...

saving my dove babies picture Not rated yet
The little ones are growing so fast! I ill miss them when they leave.

Saving my baby doves Not rated yet
I took this picture of them. They are getting big

Sandy Sartin Not rated yet
We have quit putting feed in the feeders but on the ground instead and have found that more variety of birds come and we can also enjoy them better as ...

Our Visitors, we call HOPE and HERCULES Not rated yet
Last weekend I was watering our hanging basket right outside our bedroom. I had planted seedlings just 2 weeks prior, carefully nurturing them. As I ...

Protecting the Doves Not rated yet
My daughter and I have had the same two doves (I am assuming since they are so comfortable around us)build a nest among the flowers on my 6 ft tall plant ...

new visitors Not rated yet
Just a few days ago 2 mourning doves started making regular visits but would not eat from the feeders but looked under the feeders for food.

I started ...

Sad Story--- Not rated yet
Sad Story---

Momma dove had two chicks. During a storm, one fell out of the nest and drowned. A couple of days later, we found the other chick on the ...

Picture of Daddy Dove with his baby Not rated yet
Doves made a nest on top of our hurricane shutters right at our front door. We were able to watch the Daddy Dove and the Mommy Dove swap places each morning ...

Doves in my herb box Not rated yet
I just noticed I have a nest in my herb planter on my second floor deck.Ive had 2 doves every day on my balconey and the nest looks almost done.The only ...

Mourning Doves on our front Porch Not rated yet
We have a nest on our front porch about 10 feet above ground. At first it seemed like only one bird was sitting on the nest the entire 2 weeks. Now I've ...

Mrs. Oren Not rated yet
A mommy and daddy bird are making a nest on my balcony. I am trying to encourage them to stay. They are so cute shopping around for their nest and bringing ...

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