Talk:Mourning dove

Common in Wisconsin


Mourning Doves are common in Wisconsin. When they come back next spring I will get a picture of their tails. They like to nest on our front porch. This was the 3rd set of babies that the mother had in that nest this summer. They take about a week to hatch and fly away. Ancheta Wis 07:35, 7 Nov 2004 (UTC)


 * Nice photo. Maurreen 06:10, 17 July 2005 (UTC)

There are lots of these in Afghanistan and they are called "Moseecha."
 * No. They are not found in Asia. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 104.169.24.168 (talk) 14:53, 3 April 2021 (UTC)

Mourning Doves wintering with us
We have 5 mourning doves wintering with us here in Western Canada. We built a little ground cote for them to feed in, and keep the wild turkeys from their food. Lyndalailarma 21:45, 4 January 2006 (UTC)

Abandoned egg?
I recently aided a pair of Dove's in building a nest. Within 24 hours the female laid an egg and I have not seen the pair return to the nest since I saw the egg early in the morning. This is the second day and still no parents????? Is this common practice or have the parents abandoned the egg permanently? Will the egg survive now? What should I do. I have not touched the nest or the egg. It is on my patio. Any info would be appreciated.

My email is hilljean@sbcglobal.net
 * my experience is that the bird gets alarmed easily. Just let it alone. The mother may return. The mother lays several sets of per year, and it takes a week to hatch them; then they all fly away. --Ancheta Wis 00:24, 18 April 2006 (UTC)

Zenaidura macroura or Zenaida macroura
Is Zenaidura macroura or Zenaida macroura the current scientific name for the Mourning Dove? A German-language website that I was reading gives the following information for the Mourning Dove (Trauertaube, Carolinataube): "Carolinataube Zenaidura macroura - früher: Zenaida macroura" [translation: Carolina Dove Zenaidura macroura - formerly: Zenaida macroura] (http://www.vzi.de/p/z2/taubcar.htm). I have also read that the "Eastern Mourning Dove" has the scientific name Zenaidura macroura carolinensis. Is there a dispute about the scientific nomenclature for the Mourning Dove among taxonomists? Does anyone know? If taxonomists have changed the scientific name, then this change ought also to be made in the Wikipedia article on the Mourning Dove. Hans-Friedrich Tamke 03:47, 24 April 2006 (UTC)
 * National Geographic's Field Guide to the Birds of North America uses Zenaida as the genus for Mourning Doves (Zenaida macroura) and Zenaida Doves (Zenaida aurita). --Evice 02:25, 7 September 2006 (UTC)

Symbol of Peace
Mourning doves are also Michigan's symbol of peace...there is a cite here in the last bullet point near the bottom of the page: http://www.hometownlife.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061012/OPINION01/610120334/1120

I believe it is a different kind of dove, not the morning dove which is why there was a debate on whether it should be hunted as it is now. It isnt the morning dove, but i dont have a website to back that up at the moment.

Strong fliers
Are mourning doves strong fliers compared to other doves, or are they strong fliers like other doves? KP Botany 01:23, 26 November 2006 (UTC)
 * I'm not sure I agree with "strong flyers" as a descriptive term for Mourning Doves in any context. In my experience, they tend to be pretty ungainly and clumsy in flight. They may be strong in terms of speed in open air, but in woods and close cover they're about the least agile birds of their size that I've seen. Blue Jays and Woodpeckers for example (similar-sized birds) are much more nimble. &#39;Card 19:49, 10 March 2007 (UTC)
 * I dunno bout that, They fly pretty fast up here in Michigan, and thy go right through some trees... 64.68.243.229 22:47, 19 April 2007 (UTC)


 * Strong flier= Fast fliers. 88 km/h is pretty fast for a dove. They always outfly hawks (which are sluggish, I know. I dunno about nimble because there aren't any forests where I live.--~PogoNoodle~ (talk) 22:53, 23 November 2007 (UTC)

Sound
what the hell is that "hee-hee-hee-hee" sound they make when they flap their wings/fly


 * I dunno why this happens, but when they fly, their wings have an odd "whistling sound. --~PogoNoodle~ (talk) 22:46, 23 November 2007 (UTC)


 * I don't think the wings produce this sound. Wing flapping might trigger the sound, but the actual sound could be produced by the vocal cords (like a tennis player grunting when swinging his arm). The reason I doubt the sound is produced by feather vibration is because it happens only in low-speed flight, when feathers could not possibly vibrate fast enough to produce a sound. Also, if feathers produce this sound, you'd expect more birds to produce similar sounds when they fly. I read somewhere that mourning doves make this noise at takeoff to alert other doves to danger. This also can't be true, because the same sound is produced both at takeoff and landing, even when building a nest calmly. Jarir (talk) 22:01, 28 April 2008 (UTC)


 * That is a cry of alarm when disturbed. They make it almost certainly to warn other doves of a potential danger as they take off - they also make the cry in-flight during hunting season if they fly over someone that points a shotgun at them - pretty smart little dinosaurs!

Clearer pic of nesting?
I took a pic of a mourning dove nesting today and uploaded it to Commons. It seems less blurrier than the one on the article right now, but I don't know if I should replace it (since it looks like the current photos are in a set). If you guys wanna use it, by all means... -→ Buchanan-Hermit™ / ?! 16:59, 4 May 2007 (UTC)

Semi-Protection?
I don't know about what you guys think, but this article seems to be getting a lot of vandalism from anon people, and registered Wikipedia users. If we can reach a consensus here, I'll go ask for the Semi-protection. Elenseel 03:41, 12 July 2007 (UTC)

Agreed. I thought that Featured-Articles-Of-The-Day were always semi-protected. --joe056
 * Usually it is bad to semi-protect because FAOD get a lot of improvement from anon IPs while on the main page.-- Kungfu Adam ( talk ) 13:55, 12 July 2007 (UTC)

Yes, refer to Main Page featured article protection. FAOD articles are only semi-protected when the vandalism rate is excessively high. Semi-protection is rarely done. Full protection is "prohibited". --Richard 14:56, 12 July 2007 (UTC)


 * I was wondering what the heck was going on. Thought it was a rash of pigeon haters. Looks like all vandalism has been done by IPs, and all IPs have been vandals so far. Semi-protect would appear to be a good idea. Notmyrealname 18:08, 12 July 2007 (UTC)


 * It'll be over tomorrow. Bendž|Ť 19:55, 12 July 2007 (UTC)
 * Okey-doke. Seems to have slowed down now anyway. Notmyrealname 19:58, 12 July 2007 (UTC)
 * Schools and jails are finishing for the day I guess :). Anyways, enjoy all the attention while it lasts :) Cheers! --Tom 19:59, 12 July 2007 (UTC)
 * So what exactly qualifies as "excessively high" vandalism? Several hundred edits, half of which were reverts getting rid of the rubbish put in by anonymous IPs sounds "excessively high" to me!  Of all the anonymous IP contributions, only 3-4 were good edits&mdash;hardly the "lot of improvement"  Kungfu Adam  suggested might happen!  MeegsC | Talk 20:33, 12 July 2007 (UTC)

Etymology
I think that it would be beneficial to include the etymology of the scientific name, especially considering this is a featured article. Anyone have any information? Djlayton4 | talk |  contribs 18:55, 12 July 2007 (UTC)

Both parts are Greek. Zenaida is a girl's name literally meaning "born of Zeus" (similar to Zenobia) but recently "white-winged dove", and macro-ura means big-tail. I don't have solid sources though. Bendž|Ť 19:51, 12 July 2007 (UTC)
 * I've found one for the specific name. Bendž|Ť 20:26, 12 July 2007 (UTC)

The painting is from New International Encyclopedia. It seems this article completely glosses over the very complicated taxonomic history concerning this species. I'm outlining part of it at passenger pigeon, this article should probably have some of the same info. Also, the taxobox attribution of Ectopistes carolinensis to Audubon is complete nonsense. FunkMonk (talk) 00:59, 18 December 2015 (UTC)
 * 1. Pintail duck
 * 2. Petrel, stormy
 * 3. Darter
 * 4. Rail
 * 5. Night heron
 * 6. Partridge, Gambel's
 * 7. Phalarope, Wilson's
 * 8. Ibis, white
 * 9. Sandpiper, spotted
 * 10. Coot
 * 11. Dove, Zenaida
 * 12. Ptarmigan, willow
 * 13. Kildeer (plover)
 * 14. Bittern, American
 * 15. Tern, Arctic

Call
To me their call sounds like "ooOOoo...oo, oo. 67.188.172.165 04:16, 7 August 2007 (UTC)

Velocicaptor 22:52, 12 July 2007 (UTC)

Missing mate it may have been killed?!
These two doves were regular visitors to my yard in Spokane, Washington. Now one is missing. One dove is just perching in my Cherry tree. Not much movement. Will they find a new mate or will this one die too? Dick —Preceding unsigned comment added by Spokane-land (talk • contribs) 04:22, 24 April 2008 (UTC)
 * As it says in the article, Mourning Doves have an extremely high mortality rate - primarily because they're fat, slow, not particularly bright, and (presumably) quite tasty. I know in my area the hawks love 'em. On the upside, they breed a bunch, so you know... live fast, die young, etc. I wouldn't worry too much about the lone bird in your yard. From what I've seen, they don't spend much time alone. - Ken Thomas (talk) 10:21, 24 April 2008 (UTC)
 * Of course, the other possibility is that the "missing" bird is actually sitting on a nest somewhere in or near your cherry tree. Mates will often sit quietly in the general vicinity of the nest, while their partner is sitting on eggs. MeegsC | Talk 11:14, 24 April 2008 (UTC)
 * MeegsC makes a valid (and much less morbid) point. After all, 'tis the season to be sitting on eggs. I wouldn't go poking around looking for the nest too much though, if I were you. While doves have never struck me as being terribly sensitive to nest disturbance, they are easily startled, and if Momma is sitting on some young'uns, you don't want to rattle her too much. - Ken Thomas (talk) 00:46, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

Birds in December
Veronicakipp (talk) 13:59, 7 December 2008 (UTC)I live on the Avalon Peninsula, Newfoundland, Canada. I keep abundant seeds available for the birds year-round, Yesterday, among some pigeons was a smaller, tamer, bird which looks exactly like the photos of the Mourning Dove. Is it possible for this bird to be Here...in December?Veronicakipp

Baby Birds Left alone
We have watched a female dove hatch her 2 eggs and the baby birds -- they must be about 10 days old or so -- have their feathers - they were left alone all night == I suspect the mother was killed--the father is watching from the roof -- but not tending to them  Any advise -- breaks my heart to watch these little guys -they are so helpless  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.38.218.168 (talk) 13:54, 3 May 2009 (UTC)


 * May be, there in your area is someone who domesticate the Doves? Also, try this sites:
 * MourningDove — see the Management for Mourning Doves section, there is a phone number (608)266-8204.
 * See also Mourning Doves Mating, Nesting and Feeding habits — something about Doves. Krasss (talk) 19:17, 3 May 2009 (UTC)

i have an injured dove. Wings are fine, tail feathers missing after being attacked by neighborhood cat... It seems in fine spirits but not sure what to do with him now. Any ideas? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 99.253.95.42 (talk) 15:20, 8 September 2010 (UTC)
 * Try google, there are many links, what now to do. Krasss (talk) 11:22, 9 September 2010 (UTC)

Mourning Doves are being displaced by invasive Collared Doves
In my area, the Texas Panhandle, (Amarillo area) Mourning Doves were very common in the past, and now are rare. They have been displaced by Collared Doves, and I have seen Collard Doves chasing and harassing Mourning doves. These two species do not coexist well, at least in this area.

On the Collared Dove article it says "it appears to occupy an ecological niche between that of the Mourning Dove and the Rock Dove". Wrong!!! :>)--Semi-lucid (talk) 03:28, 13 February 2011 (UTC)

On the west coast, the story seems a bit mixed with regard to these two species. In the San Diego area, both species occur in certain places. In the city of Chula Vista, both Mourning Doves and Collared doves live with the Mourning Doves outnumbering the Collared Doves. Collared Doves also occur locally around San Diego County. In some areas, it's only them and no Mourning Doves. While other areas have both species and the Mourning Dove is usually the more numerous of the two. At least for now. There are still parts of the San Diego area where only Mourning Doves are seen.

In the east San Francisco Bay Area, Collared Doves are numerous in the cities of Alameda and Richmond and Mourning Doves are absent. In Berkeley and northern Oakland which are between Alameda and Richmond, neither species seems to be present. Mourning Doves were once common throughout this region.

In Washington State, I didn't see either species in Seattle or Tacoma. However farther south in Centralia, Collared Doves are fairly common but Mourning Doves were absent.

Closest species
The section seems to be outdated, see the papers cited at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passenger_Pigeon#Taxonomy_and_systematics FunkMonk (talk) 20:42, 9 March 2012 (UTC)
 * Despite Mourning Dove is not now considered to be the most closely related species to the Passenger Pigeon, it still is related species. I changed the text. Krasss (talk) 17:33, 10 March 2012 (UTC)
 * Well, you could say that about all pigeons. FunkMonk (talk) 01:00, 18 December 2015 (UTC)

bad eggs??
I have watched a pair of mourning doves build a nest in my front yard... they have been sitting on the eggs for 4 weeks now... does this been the eggs are not good?? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 99.6.4.217 (talk) 14:26, 12 June 2013 (UTC)

Mourning dove character in game
There is a mourning dove named Nageki in Hatoful Boyfriend, a successful visual novel. It's a fairly important character. However, whether this counts as being 'As a symbol and in the arts' is somewhat dubious! — Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.8.208.209 (talk) 11:16, 14 July 2015 (UTC)

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Morning Dove Vs. Mourning Dove
There is an oral tradition of people being told it is called a morning dove, because it coos in the morning. The cooing sound is not mournful, it is more of a serenade. In addition, if you read about the Native American author of the same name, the English originally had her spelling it as morning dove. It is not until she visits a museum, that she saw it spelt contrary and changes the spelling of her name. To accurately conclude the debate, you would need to check with Native American language experts to determine why the name was translated into English as morning dove. Therefore, the alternative spelling should also be listed on this page and why people have traditionally spelt it both ways.97.95.79.208 (talk) 06:49, 9 July 2018 (UTC)Jamie Lynn Morris
 * That's just rubbish. The proper name is "Mourning dove" due to its mournful cooing.

Audio files
There are better audio files at https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Mourning_Dove/sounds. They are louder, clearer, and also include the wing sound.Since I don't know how to upload those, I was hoping if one of you could do it instead. SubstantialCitrusFruit (talk) 19:29, 29 April 2020 (UTC)

Mourning doves not always monogamous
"The mourning dove is monogamous and forms strong pair bonds." change to: The mourning dove is generallymonogamous and forms strong pair bonds.

A trio of mourning doves is trying to build 2 nests on my balcony.

Also, Our feathered friends are actively amorous - Smoky Mountain ...www.smliv.com › outdoors › our-feathered-friends-are... Feb 1, 2011 — These doves are the only North American species to have been found nesting somewhere in the U.S. during every month of the year. ... He noted that, “More than 85 percent of those species that have been subjected to DNA paternity studies have been found to be sexually polygamous.”

Hhansma (talk) 16:56, 20 February 2021 (UTC)

One can also find them in Colombia
Hello,

I'm not an ornithologist, so I won't dare to correct the Wikipedia entry but I think that the map and article should be updated. Mourning doves are pretty common in at least parts of Colombia, I photographed some. I'm sure it's not another species. And... they are listed on this Wikipedia page anyway : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_birds_of_Colombia Cdrk (talk) 17:23, 12 February 2023 (UTC)

Just outside my door
They nested atop a 6 foot tall shrub just outside my front door. My coming and going does not disturb them. The postman delivers mail and they just sit looking; amazingly showing absolutely no fear. 2601:140:C000:3D:957:1CAD:29EF:D642 (talk) 15:20, 29 March 2023 (UTC)

how can i hand feed Mourning Doves?
I tried attracting mourning doves to my hand which my hand has seeds but there not coming so can you please explain this? 2600:1700:A251:1790:3D8E:56A5:C7D8:7DCE (talk) 01:02, 27 June 2023 (UTC)