Wild Mourning Doves

Mourning doves are a common wild bird seen across North America. They are hunted by hawks and a long list of predators, including humans. Yet despite their position in the food web as a "fast food" item, mourning doves appear as one of the top ten most-counted bird species every year during the Great Backyard Bird Count.

In my own FeederWatch and Ebird counts, I always have mourning doves.

When I recently posted photos of a mourning dove nest with chicks, I was contacted by someone wanting to buy them.

This individual had rescued a young mourning dove, raised it as a pet, and now was looking for a mate for the captive bird.

While this person's intentions were to do good, they were crossing some important lines.

1. It is illegal to keep native North American wild birds as pets. Around the world many species are endangered by unregulated or illegal collection for the pet trade.
   
2. Young birds raised by humans, frequently are unable to socialize naturally with birds of their own kind and may never breed. (This is a constant issue with bird conservation programs and why such complicated efforts like feeding puppets are employed so that young birds never associate humans as their care-providers and/or parents.)
3. Rescuing a wild creature means returning it to its normal, wild life whenever possible.

I have offered sanctuary to wild animals for short amounts of time; tree squirrel, California towhee, Allen's hummingbird. Success is seeing that animal living its life in the wild, even if that only means a few days.

The more I observe wild creatures, the less I want any creature to be a pet. Is it difficult to let a creature go back into the wild where it might be eaten by a predator or injured by humans? Yes.

But if you provide safe habitat, wild creatures will come and make use of the sanctuary you offer at the level they need and desire. I am spiritually uplifted watching the preying mantis youngsters emerge from their egg casing, witnessing the trials and challenges of the hummingbirds that I have rescued as they live their own natural lives. I do not need to own them. I don't want to own them. They all have important roles to play in a vibrant, healthy planet. I hope you can start to see the wild creatures around you in this way too.

Then There Were Mourning Doves

Two mourning dove chicks in a nest constructed in a hanging flower pot.

A friend and his family are documenting this nest site on their front porch. SEE the nest when first discovered.

A healthy backyard habitat gives back to you in living treasures.

Identifying A Bird Nesting in a Hanging Pot

Do you have a bird nesting in a hanging flower pot?

After a recent talk I gave on identifying local birds, my friend Shane and his daughter Jenna sent me the following photos of the bird they wanted to identify.

This mourning dove has build a nest in a hanging pot. The dove or pigeon shape of the body, the soft gray coloring, the black beak, and the lack of a marking on the neck or a "collar," help us to identify that this is a mourning dove. This smallish dove is one of the most typically seen birds at bird feeders and in suburbs. Mourning doves don’t mind people and we discourage the presence of their primary predators: hawks and falcons, foxes, bobcats and other small mammalian predators.

Mourning doves build a haphazard, loose nest of twigs. If they can find a cupped location–like a hanging pot– or a secure surface–like the top of a window-mounted air conditioner or a protected roof line under an eave–they will use that human-made location to their benefit. Frequently that means mourning doves nest close to human activities.

This pinkish-gray dove depends on its camouflage coloring to allude predators. Their survival tactic is to remain very still. They trust that if they don’t move, you can’t see them. Don’t be surprised if a nesting dove will sit on its nest as you walk by.

According to birding books, both parents incubate the eggs; taking a shift at a specific time of day. The two white eggs shown here are a typical clutch.

A bird nesting close to your home says that you are providing habitat the bird needs. A protected secure location near food and water. (See nesting Bewick’s wren, Allen’s hummingbird.)

I hope that Jenna and her dad will keep us informed as the mourning doves continue their nesting effort. It would be great to see young mourning doves.

What is in your yard?

Are you interested in learning to identify birds in your yard? Contact me at 4animalbytes@gmail.com

Counting Birds for GBBC

Are you counting birds?


One baby Allen's hummingbird. Doing fine, having survived last weekend's storm. Three adults flying around the yard.

One of three mourning doves.


Today is the first of four days to count birds for the Great Backyard Bird Count.

One Oregon junco beneath the feeder.


One not a bird (introduced fox squirrel).


No wrens in the nest box.


Just a half hour of counting on my lunch break. Plus - eight house finches, one lesser goldfinch, three white-crowned sparrows and an oak titmouse in the tree. Not an impressive list, but every list is important.

GO OUTSIDE. GO TO THE WINDOW. COUNT !!!

Great Backyard Bird Count