The mournful cooing of the Mourning Dove is one of our most familiar bird sounds.
From southern Canada to central Mexico, this is one of our most common birds, often abundant in open country and along roadsides.
The European settlement of the continent, with its clearing of the forest, likely helped this species increase.
It also helps itself by breeding prolifically in warm climates and may raise up to six broods per year, more than any other native bird.
Some remain through winter over most of breeding range, but many move south from northern areas in fall, migrating mostly by day in flocks.
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The Mourning Dove is found in almost any kind of open or semi-open habitat in temperate parts of North America, including forest clearings, farmland, suburbs, prairies, and deserts.
It may be most common in edge habitats having both trees and open ground, but it is also found in some treeless areas, avoiding unbroken forest.
Mourning Dove numbers probably have increased significantly with the increasing settlement of North America.
A graceful, slender-tailed, small-headed dove that’s common across the continent, Mourning Doves perch on telephone wires and forage for seeds on the ground; their flight is fast and bullet straight.
Their soft, drawn-out calls sound like laments; when taking off, their wings make a sharp whistling or whinnying.
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Mourning doves are named and known for their sad, mournful call.
Mourning doves are found in temperate areas of the United States, southern Canada, Mexico, Bermuda, the Caribbean, and Central America, with a population of 350 million birds.
The birds live in open areas with scattered trees, especially crop fields, farmlands, yards, and forest clearings.
They forage mostly on seeds and can drink brackish water and are often perched on telephone wires.
These birds form seasonally monogamous couples that can raise as many as six broods of two eggs each a year.
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Mourning doves have a long, pointed tail which distinguishes them from other North American doves.
They’re plump with short legs, a small bill, and a head that is small compared to their body.
These birds are brown to buffy-tan with black spots on the wings and black-bordered white tips to the tail feathers.
Where to Spot Mourning Doves
First stop: check your backyard or local green spaces!
Mourning doves are frequent visitors to backyard bird feeders and are commonly seen hanging out on telephone wires.
If you're keen for an adventure, check out these National Wildlife Refuges:
- Grand Bay National Wildlife Refuge (Alabama): Mourning doves prefer open habitats for foraging, and the refuge has patches of grasslands and other areas where they may be seen.
- Piedmont National Wildlife Refuge (Georgia): While the refuge is primarily known for its pine-hardwood forests and efforts to restore red-cockaded woodpecker habitat, it also has open fields, forest edges, and roadsides where mourning doves are commonly found.
- Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge (Florida): While best known for wading birds and waterfowl, this refuge also has upland scrub and open areas where mourning doves can be spotted.
- Savannah National Wildlife Refuge (South Carolina): This refuge offers open fields, grasslands, and agricultural areas where mourning doves frequently forage.
Mourning doves are special because they embody both beauty and resilience.
Their soft, melancholy cooing is one of the most recognizable bird calls in North America, evoking a sense of peace and nostalgia.
Despite their delicate appearance, mourning doves are strong flyers, capable of reaching speeds over 50 mph.
They are also highly adaptable, thriving in a variety of habitats from open fields to suburban backyards.
As seed eaters, they play a crucial role in their ecosystems by helping to disperse plant seeds.
The mourning collared dove (Streptopelia decipiens) is a type of pigeon that lives in Africa, mostly south of the Sahara Desert.
Even though it's called a "mourning" dove, it's not closely related to the North American mourning dove.
The mourning collared dove is a fairly large and strong pigeon, growing up to 31 centimeters (about 12 inches) long.
The head of this dove is grey, and its chest and belly are pink, fading to a light grey on its lower belly.
It has a special black patch on the back of its neck, with white edges.
When this dove flies, you can see its dark flight feathers, and it also has a lot of white on its tail, which helps tell it apart from the red-eyed dove, which is similar but bigger.
Male and female mourning collared doves look very similar; however, young doves are not as brightly colored as adults.
The mourning collared dove flies quickly, beating its wings regularly and sometimes giving a sharp flick.
Mourning collared doves eat mostly grass seeds, grains, and other plants, spending a lot of time on the ground where they usually look for food.
These doves build their nests in trees, often choosing mangrove trees, and their nests are made of sticks.
Sexes similar - Length: 9-13 in (23-33 cm); wingspan: 17 in (43 cm); weight: 3-6 oz (85-170 g).
Long, pointed tail shows white spots along the edge in flight.
The Mourning Dove is mostly plain, with black spots on its wings.
The adult male is tinged pinkish on the chest and blue-gray on the crown; the female is duller, with plain brown plumage.
Scaly-looking young bird sometimes mistaken for Inca Dove or Common Ground Dove.
Low mournful (hence its name) coo-ah, coo, coo, coo.
Farms, towns, open woods, roadsides, and grasslands.
Favors seeds of cultivated grains, also those of grasses, ragweeds, and many other plants.
Occasionally eats snails, very rarely any insects.
In courtship, the male Mourning Dove flies up with noisy wingbeats and then goes into a long circular glide, wings fully spread and slightly bowed down.
On the ground, the male approaches the female stiffly, his chest puffed out, bowing and giving an emphatic cooing song.
Members of mated pairs may preen each other's feathers.
Nest: Male leads female to potential nest sites; female chooses one.
Site is usually in a tree or shrub, sometimes on the ground, sometimes on a building ledge or other structure; usually lower than 40 ft, rarely up to 100 ft or more above ground.
Nest is a very flimsy platform of twigs; the male brings material, the female builds.
