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Field
Guide IDs: BREEDING:
Desert (near water)
to open woodland, agricultural areas with scattered
trees, suburbs. Typically 2-3, but occ 3-6
broods. DISPLAYS:
Courtship: male
performs gliding, spiraling aerial display over
female with wingtips held below body; on ground
struts before female with feathers spread and head
nodding. NEST:
In fork of
horizontal tree branch, on ground, on deserted nest
of other species, or anywhere else providing solid
support; flimsy, usu of crossed sticks and twigs
(occ grass, weed stems) lined with fine materials.
Female builds but male brings materials. Built in 1
- 3 days; often reused. EGGS:
White, unmarked.
1.1" (28 mm). DIET:
Seeds, including
waste grain from cultivated fields, compose >99%
of diet. Young fed crop milk for 3 days, then also
seeds; entirely seeds by 6-8 days. CONSERVATION:
Winters s to c
Panama. Rare host of both cowbird species. Range
expanding northward. NOTES:
Champion of
multiple-brooding among N.A. birds. Most abundant
dove in N.A.; most widely hunted and harvested game
bird. Pair bonds occ persist >1 nesting season.
Flock for much of year, but not colonial breeder.
Eggs always covered: male incubates most of day,
female remainder of day, all night. Clutches of 3-4
likely due to brood parasitism by another Mourning
Dove. Males produce crop milk 4-6 days longer than
females. Common to abundant
resident throughout campus. Highly flexible in its
use of nesting substrates; nests in a variety of
trees and shrubs but also uses planters, artificial
ledges, the eaves of buildings, and even old nests
of other species. ESSAYS: Visual
Displays;
Feeding
Birds;
Bird
Milk;
Who
Incubates?;
Range
Expansion;
Brood
Parasitism REFERENCES:
Leopold et al.,
1981; Leopold and Dedon, 1983; Westmoreland et al.,
1986. |
