Mourning Dove
Mourning Dove: Medium-sized dove with gray-brown upperparts and pink-brown underparts. Eyes are dark with a small, black spot beneath. Bill is dark. Wings are gray-brown with black spots and dark primaries. Tail is long and pointed with black-edged white tips on outer feathers. Swift direct flight.
● Song:
Melancholy ooah-woo-woo-woo by male in breeding season.
● Foraging & Feeding:
Mourning Dove: Eats seeds, waste grain, fruits, and insects. Usually forages on the ground, but occasionally in trees and shrubs.
● Breeding & nesting:
Mourning Dove: Two white eggs are laid in a loosely made nest made of sticks and twigs built in a low bush or tree, or sometimes on the ground. Eggs are incubated for 14 days by both parents.
● Similar species:
Mourning Dove: Eurasian-collared Dove has a long, rounded neck and a black collar. White-winged Dove has large white wing patches and shorter, squared tail.
● Range & Habitat:
Mourning Dove: Breeds from southeastern Alaska, Saskatchewan, Ontario, Quebec, and New Brunswick southward to Mexico and Panama. Spends winters north to the northern U.S. Favorite habitats include open fields, parks, and lawns with many trees and shrubs.