Great Information About The American Mourning Dove, With Pictures

The mourning dove is also called the American mourning dove, gray dove, rain dove, or turtle dove. It was once called the Carolina dove or Carolina turtle. It is a member of the dove family, and is one of the most common birds in North America. The most attractive bird, it is famous for its easily recognizable silhouette, and although its biggest threat is predation by cats, the number of pigeons is on the rise. So what do the mourning dove eat? What are the most important threats it faces? Is the mourning dove threatened with extinction? What are the most important potential health problems for pigeons? We will find out the answer in our next article with a lot of information and facts about this wonderful pigeon.

Amazing facts about the mourning dove

* Its names include American mourning dove, Carolina dove, Carolina turtle dove, gray dove, rain dove, turtle dove, and western turtle dove.

* It can be identified by its silhouette, both when standing and in flight.

* Its voice is often confused with that of an owl.

* Mourning doves are at risk of lead poisoning from ingesting lead residue in hunting fields.

Habitat of the Mourning Dove:
The Mourning Dove is native to North America, where its range is approximately 11,000,000 square kilometers (4,200,000 square miles). It lives in southern Canada, the southwestern United States, the Greater Antilles, the Bermuda Atlantic Archipelago, south-central Mexico and Panama, and on some islands. Caribbean, where six subspecies are found. The mourning dove inhabits lightly wooded areas as well as parks and gardens in cities and towns. It was introduced to Hawaii in 1963. The birds live in open and semi-open habitats, including urban and suburban neighborhoods, prairies, grasslands, and farms. , light woods, and you can find them in open country on roadsides, and standing on telephone poles.

Mourning Dove Nests Mourning
doves are highly adaptable and can make their nests almost anywhere. Although their first choice is dense deciduous conifer trees, they also make their nests in shrubs, vines, buildings, hanging flower pots and, as a last resort, the ground. Mourning doves begin nest building in March with their peak breeding season in April and July. Females, with the help of males, build loose nests from twigs, conifer needles and blades of grass, or use unused nests for mourning doves, other birds, or tree-dwelling animals such as squirrels.

Description of the Mourning Dove
The Mourning Dove is a slender, agile medium-sized bird measuring 22.5-36 cm (8.9-14.2 in) long with an average of 30.5 cm (12 in) and weighing 96-170 g (3.4-6.0 oz) with an average of 128 g (4.5 oz). Its wingspan is 37-45 cm (14.6-17.7 inches), and its feathers are light brown-gray with pinkish-gray brown below, with black spots on the broad, oval wings. The long, pointed tail has white outer feathers, a black tail, and black inner feathers. It has short, pointed legs. The rufous, round head and short beak are dark brown-black, and the dark eyes are surrounded by light skin, with a crescent-shaped area of dark feathers underneath.

Adult male mourning doves have pink or iridescent spots on the sides of the neck, with a light pink color to the breast and a bluish-gray crown. Females are generally browner and slightly smaller than males. Females also barely have their bright feather spots. Juvenile birds appear scaly and are darker. Until they reach 3 months of age, at which point they are indistinguishable in plumage from adults, the five species of mourning dove look similar to each other, with slight differences in color, bill, and leg length.

Mourning Dove Migration Pattern and Timing
The Mourning Dove lives year-round in the United States, spends the summer in southern Canada and migrates to southern Central America for the winter.

Behavior of the Mourning Dove
The call of the Mourning Dove is a soft, long, sad long liness, that is soft, long, and often confused with the owl’s voice. It is the male that pronounces it as a singing call, and the members of the pair clean each other by gently biting around the neck as a bonding ritual between the pair. Progress towards holding their beak and bobbing their heads up and down in unison.

Mourning doves can be seen panting when they are hot because they are unable to sweat, so they must drink large amounts of water, which they drink through suction. They sunbathe or take a rain bath for up to twenty minutes by lying on the ground or on a limb. The tree flattens, bends, and extends one wing while maintaining the pose, hence the name rain dove. They also bathe in shallow water pools or birdbaths and often engage in dust bathing as well.

Their flight is fast and straight, and outside of the breeding season, mourning doves roost communally in trees. Unlike many other species, they sleep by resting their heads between their shoulders close to the body, rather than tucked under their shoulder feathers, distracting predators away from the nest. A parent will pretend It is injured and flutters to the ground at a distance, then flies away from the predator at the last moment. The mourning dove is a very peaceful and tolerant bird, which can be kept with other birds in large cages such as finches, goldfinches, and canaries, and mourning doves form permanent pairs. Well if kept together.

Mourning Dove Diet The Mourning

Dove follows an herbivorous diet, eating mostly a variety of grass seeds and grains, which make up 99% of its diet, and occasionally snails and insects. It often swallows the granules in the form of fine gravel or sand to aid in digestion later. They fly away after filling their crops, and since they eat on the ground, they prefer to eat what can be easily seen on the ground or on plants.

What do mourning doves eat?
Mourning doves eat rapeseeds, corn, millet, safflower, sunflower, pine, pine seeds, buckberry, amaranth, canary grass, corn, sesame, wheat seeds, buckwheat, rye, hickory grass, and smartweed seeds. Enjoy the corn.

The most important threats facing the mourning dove
: Cats are the largest threat to the mourning dove. They are also considered a game bird and are hunted in 40 states. They are often preyed upon, especially their young, by diurnal birds of prey such as hawks and falcons, along with corvids, the familiar blackbird, and rat snakes. Lead poisoning resulting from ingesting lead in hunting fields is another threat, and some hunters plant their favorite seed plants and attract them to sites.

Mourning Dove Reproduction
The Mourning Dove begins building the nest in March with the peak of its breeding season in April and July, and in some areas, it is sometimes as late as October. The Mourning Dove is monogamous and remains with the same partner in future breeding seasons. It is prolific and can They have up to 6 offspring per season, which is necessary due to annual mortality rates of 58% for adults and 69% for young.

Mourning doves sometimes reuse their own nests or the nests of other species. Males offer nesting sites for females to choose from. The female then builds the nest with the help of the male from twigs, conifer needles, and grass blades in dense deciduous or coniferous trees. Females lay 1-2 eggs, which are incubated. For two weeks before hatching, the young are called zaghloul and are fed with milk for 3-4 days, after which they also eat seeds.

They begin to reproduce within 11-15 days and the parent continues to feed them for up to two weeks. The age of the first molt is 3 months, with adults molting once every 14 days. In 85 days they can reproduce, and if the young survive their first year, they can live. For 4-5 years in the wild, and in captivity, they can live up to 19 years.

Is the mourning dove endangered?
The conservation status of the mourning dove is of least concern according to the IUCN Red List. Its population size is estimated at 475 million and growing, and in the 40 states it is hunted, with more than 20 million shot and up to 40-70 million by hunters. Every year, the western United States has seen a population decline due to lead poisoning from ingesting consuming lead.

Care and activities of the mourning dove
The mourning dove is very hardy to a large extent. If you keep a mourning dove outside the house and it is accustomed to cold weather, it can withstand freezing temperatures for a short period of time. It is considered a supplement with a mixture of goldfinch and parakeet seeds with vegetables rich in minerals and calcium. Vitamins are a good diet, and the American mourning dove not only enjoys eating vegetables, but also enjoys eating other foods such as corn crumbles and bread.

Gravel is necessary for the mourning dove, although the dove swallows its food whole, as it helps grind the food, and oyster shells or even the sea tongue can add calcium, which is important for the egg layers. The American mourning dove needs a spacious room, because it gets to practice its activities through… Short flights around the cage.

Possible common diseases of the mourning dove
The American mourning dove is a very hardy bird and is healthy if it is provided with a good environment with a good diet, avoiding wet and cold environments, and avoiding places open to the wind. However, there are some potential health problems and the emergence of some diseases. Signs of the disease include sitting for a longer period than usual, closing the eyes, pulling out feathers, tilting the head to one side, problems with balance, and a sharply protruding breastbone. The common diseases of the American mourning dove are pigeonpox, parrot fever, and some internal parasites such as tapeworm. Roundworms, some external parasites such as mites, and salmonella, the pigeon should be taken to the veterinarian for diagnosis and treatment.

Frequently asked questions about the mourning dove

Q: What is the difference between pigeons and doves?
A: Pigeons and doves are actually the same type of animal. Instead of distinct differences that can separate them, they are two names for birds that belong to the same family. In general, pigeons are larger and doves have fluffier tails. However, there are exceptions to this. the rules.

Q: What does a mourning dove sound like?
A: The sound of the mourning dove, woo woo woo woo, is like the sound of an owl.

Q: What does a mourning dove look like?
A: It is medium-sized, slender and agile with a round head, small dark beak, dark eyes, broad, oval-shaped wings, short reddish legs, its plumage is light brown-gray with pinkish-gray brown feathers on the underside, its wings have black spots, and a long, pointed tail with white tail feathers. Its exterior conceals black inner tail feathers, and on average, it is 30.5 cm (12 in) long, weighs 128 g (4.5 oz) and has a wingspan of 40.6 cm (16 in).

Q: Why was the mourning dove given this name?
A: Because of the sad sound of her call.

Q: Are the mourning dove friendly?
A: Yes, if domesticated and hand-fed, they are sweet, gentle, easy to train and bond, and rarely bite.

Q: Do mourning doves migraFte?
A: Yes, mourning doves migrate during the winter and head to the mid-Atlantic and southern states in late August and early September, and some will stay if they are near a food source such as a bird feeder.

Q: How many eggs does a mourning dove lay?
A: Between 1-2 eggs, but usually 2 eggs.

Q: How fast does a mourning dove fly?
A: The mourning dove reaches a speed of 88 km or 55 mph.

Q: When do mourning dove chicks leave the nest?
A: After about 15 days