The Mourning Dove is the most widespread and abundant game bird in North America.
Mourning Dove Scientific Name
The mourning dove (Zenaida macroura) is a member of the dove family, Columbidae.
Other Names
The bird is also known as the American mourning dove, the rain dove, and the turtle dove, and it was once known as the Carolina pigeon and Carolina turtledove.
Mourning Dove Meaning
While the mourning dove is often a symbol of sorrow and mourning, it symbolizes the same things as its white dove cousin. The mourning dove is, above all other symbolism, a spiritual messenger of peace, love, and faith. A reflection of grief is evoked by their sound.
Mourning Dove Life Spans
It is estimated that between 50-65% of all Mourning Doves die annually. The average life span for an adult Mourning Dove is 1.5 years. The oldest known free-living bird, discovered through bird banding research, was over 31 years old.
Mourning Dove Nest
Typically mourning dove nests made in amid dense foliage on the branch of an evergreen, orchard tree, mesquite, cottonwood, or vine. Also quite commonly nests on the ground, particularly in the West. Unbothered by nesting around humans, Mourning Doves may even nest on gutters, eaves, or abandoned equipment.
Mourning Dove Eggs
A female adult mourning dove lays two plain, white, nondescript eggs per clutch. Both parents incubate the eggs for about 14 days. The parents may go on to have up to five or six broods of baby mourning doves in one season.
Mourning Dove Male vs Female
The female mourning dove has a rounder head compared to the male. The male also has a more intense and vivid coloration than the female. The male mourning dove has a peculiar bluish-gray crown, light pink breast area, and bright purple-pink patches on the sides of the neck.
Mourning Dove Behaviour
Mourning doves sunbathe or rain bathe by lying on the ground or a flat tree limb, leaning over, stretching one wing, and keeping this posture for up to twenty minutes. These birds can also water bathe in shallow pools or birdbaths. Dustbathing is common as well.
During sleep, the head rests between the shoulders, close to the body; it is not tucked under the shoulder feathers as in many other species. During the winter in Canada, roosting flights to the roosts in the evening, and out of the roosts in the morning, are delayed on colder days.
Mourning Dove Migration
Most mourning doves migrate along flyways over land. Birds in Canada migrate the farthest, probably wintering in Mexico or further south. Those that spend the summer further south are more sedentary, with much shorter migrations. At the southern part of their range, Mourning Doves are present year-round.
Spring migration north runs from March to May. Fall migration south runs from September to November, with immatures moving first, followed by adult females and then by adult males. Migration is usually during the day, in flocks, and at low altitudes.
Population
The Mourning Dove is the most widespread and abundant game bird in North America. Every year hunters harvest more than 20 million, but the Mourning Dove remains one of our most abundant birds with a U.S. population estimated at 350 million.
