Bird Food Preferences

Black-oil sunflower, Nyjer^®, safflower, sunflower hearts, and white proso millet

Bird Feeder Preferences

Platform

Plants to Attract

Woody Plants: Pine; Non-woody Plants: Amaranth, goosefoot, pokeweed, poppies, purslane, ragweed, saltbush, smartweed, spurges, and sunflower

Description

Mourning Doves are found year round in the United States.  During the breeding season, Mourning Doves can also be found in southern parts of Canada.  Mourning Dove habitat varies widely from rural to urban landscapes and prefers open habitat.

Mourning Doves are on average 11 inches in length and weigh between three and six ounces.  Mourning Doves are slender doves with short black bills, short red legs, and long slender tails.  These doves are grayish brown overall with buffy underparts.  They have black spots on their wings and white tips on their tail.

The male Mourning Dove brings twigs to the female and passes the twigs to her by standing on her back.  The female then creates the nest by weaving the twigs together.  The nest is made of pine needles, twigs, and grass stems.  The nest is pretty flimsy and is not lined.  Mourning Doves may reuse their nests or use other birds' nests.  Mourning Doves place their nests on branches of trees such as evergreens and cottonwood.  They also nest in gutters and eves.

Similar Species

Common Ground-Dove, Eurasian Collared-Dove, Inca Dove, White-tipped Dove, and White-winged Dove