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Mourning Dove, Toronto, Canada, 2005. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

Mourning Dove in sycamore tree, San Diego, CA, no date. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons. Retouched.

mourning dove

Zenaida macroura

Identification: 
This plump pigeon-sized bird is one of our most common in Centre County.  It is a light colored warm tannish gray, with black spots on the back, a dark eye, sometimes a dark spot below the eye, and a small beak.  Its long, pointed tail is especially prominent when it sits on a wire or tree branch.  

Behavior:
The mourning dove struts along on the ground foraging for seeds, which constitute 99% of its diet.  It stores many seeds at a time in its crop, and feeds its young with “crop milk.”  The species is a “habitat generalist,” meaning it is quite adaptable.  Its soft cooing is a familiar sound.  When startled into flight, its wings make a sound that resembles the Three Stooges’ “woop woop woop.” 

What brings it to the SBG?
Food, cover, nesting sites.  The Mourning Dove can find many seeds in the Demonstration Gardens; it generally nests in trees.

When can I see it?
Year-round.  Some Mourning Doves are partial migrants, so the birds that are seen here in winter may not be the same individuals that appear in summer.