No, it’s not a bereaved widow.
No, it doesn’t hang around the edges of graveyards.
Contrary to belief, the mourning dove stems its name not from its behavior or appearance, but from the sound it makes.
But what does it sound like?
What does it look like?
We’ll explore these topics further, delving into not just appearance, but also the interesting behaviors and habits that may help you ID the mourning dove.
What Is A Mourning Dove?
Also known as turtle dove, the mourning dove is one of the most frequently encountered, and most adaptable, bird species in North America .
A part of the pigeon and dove family, Columbidae, mourning doves can be found across North and Central America. Some populations breed in the North and migrate Southwards. Others choose to remain within their breeding and non-breeding range the duration of their lives.
Mourning doves thrive in almost all habitats, but prefer open, human-modified areas such as farmland, backyards and parks. They have also adapted to life in the arid deserts of the Southwest, where they have evolved the ability to drink brackish (a mix of fresh and saltwater) water.
Rarely will you find mourning doves in heavily forested areas.
What Does A Mourning Dove Look Like?
The mourning dove looks like a glammed-up city pigeon (sorry pigeon). Almost.
They have plump bodies with a long tail, short legs and small bill.
Unlike many other bird species, which show sexual dimorphism (sexes look different), both male and female mourning doves look similar.
Both sexes have the same pale gray-brown bodies, pink legs, and black spots under their eyes and boarding on the tips of their wing feathers.
From afar, it would be nearly impossible to tell whether you’re looking at a female or male mourning dove. However, up close, it becomes clearer that the males are slightly bigger, with broader chests.
Both males and females have a striking blue ring around their jet black eyes.
Unique amongst the American doves, the mourning dove has a long, pointed tail. This slender tail allows the mourning dove to travel at speeds of up to 80 km/h.
Plain though they may seem, there’s more than meets the eye.
Sure, they’re not the most dazzling of birds. They don’t have trailing feathers of iridescence or complex calls.
What they do have, however, is some interesting behaviors.
And we can use these behaviors to aid with IDing the mourning dove.
Crop Milk Feeding
For starters, mourning doves drink milk.
Kind of.
Although common across the dove and pigeon families, as well as a few other bird species, such as flamingos, the behavior is not common in the bird kingdom.
A newly emerged mourning dove chick, also known as a squab, will be fed a milk-like concoction from both parents.
Resembling more cottage cheese than milk, the mixture is secreted by cells within the crop – a muscular pouch in the front of a bird’s neck that stores food and is part of the digestive tract – hence the more common name: “crop milk”.
The crop milk is nutrient-rich, and allows the helpless squab to gain weight quickly to avoid predators.
I think we’ll save milk production to the mammals.
Drinking Behaviors
If you’ve ever watched a bird drink, you’ll often notice a head tilting motion.
You see, most birds can’t drink like mammals. They lack lips and cheeks that enable them to draw liquid into their throats.
This means that many bird species rely on gravity to force the water down their throat. They scoop up a mouthful of water in their beak, then tilt their heads back. Voila.
Pigeons and doves, including our mourning dove, have the unique ability to suck liquid from their beaks, as if using a straw.
By pumping their tongues, they create a suction pressure that draws the water up without the need for all that silly head-tilting nonsense.
But there’s a very logical reason for this.
The less time with their head in awkward positions, the more time they can spend on the look out for predators.
Flying Behaviors
During the breeding season, typically around late February to early March, it isn’t uncommon to see three mourning doves flying in a line of tight formation.
This is a social display carried out by a mated pair and an unmated male – and a behavior that may help ID the mourning dove from afar.
Often, the lead bird is the mated male. The second in formation is the unmated male, chasing the rival male out of his nesting territory.
The female changes position – sometimes she’s in front of her partner. Other times, she’s bringing up the rear. She plays no obvious purpose, other than being there for the fun of it all.
What Does A Mourning Dove Sound Like?
Up until now, we haven’t discussed why the mourning dove is called so?
It’s not like we see this dove on the edge of graveyards with a veil over its head.
Instead, the name stems from the sounds they make.
Calls and Sounds
Mourning doves let out a series of soft coo-ing calls, known as the “perch coo”. Those who have heard the calls have found them to be mournful, with an overwhelming feeling of sadness and melancholy.
Deep, right?
In some ways, however, there is some truth behind the mournfulness.
Only unmated males, perched on a conspicuous branch, let out the series of soft coos in an attempt to find a female.
These perches are highly sought after, and males will defend their cooing perches from other males rigorously.
Once a male has paired with a female, he can often be heard emitting a three-part “nest-coo”.
This coo-OO-oo noise, with the note rising in the middle section of the call, is made predominantly when the male is building a nest – another unusual behavior seen in mourning doves.
Whilst males make the dominant cooing sounds, so typically associated with mourning doves, females aren’t silent.
When nest-sitting, females can sometimes be heard calling an ohr-ohr-like sound.
Other Sounds
But a mourning dove doesn’t just make cooing sounds.
By nature, mourning doves are nervous birds and seemingly on edge. At the slightest chance of danger, the dove will take to the skies with a sharp whistling noise.
Except this sound isn’t produced from its beak.
Rather, in their hasty retreat to the sky, air rushes through their feathers, causing them to vibrate.
This isn’t just a trick of the wind. It is, in fact, a clear evolutionary adaptation that serves as an alarm bell.
Not only can the sharp whistle-like noise startle predators momentarily, it also encourages other flock members to take off.
With numbers on their side, large flocks of airbourne mourning doves outnumber potential predators. Survival is increased. This is often referred to as the safety in number hypothesis.
Similar Species To A Mourning Dove
Globally, there are thought to be 352 species of pigeons and doves.
Trying to tell one from another can be a challenge in itself.
In this family, Columbidae, there are some real oddities that look nothing like the mourning dove – like the blue-crowned pigeon.
However, there are some species that look incredibly similar.
Take the collared dove, for example.
Like the mourning dove, the collared dove has a black patch under the eye. However, what clearly separates these two patches is the shape. The collared dove, as the name suggests, has a patch that extends around their whole neck, much like a collar.
Then there’s the white-winged dove and the white-tiped dove. These species look remarkably similar. The most obvious difference is the coloration of the wing tips. – rarely will you see white plumage on the wings of the mourning dove.
Finally, and possibly the most distinctive difference between the mourning dove and other North American species is the shape of those tail feathers.
Whilst other species, such as the collard and white-winged dove, have square-tipped tails, the tail of the mourning dove is slender and pointed.
Final Thoughts
Ok, ok. They’re not the most gorgeous bird to look at.
But there’s no denying their sound is as iconic as it is distinctive.
Their ability to thrive in nearly all regions of North and Central America is an achievement in itself.
And they have been able to do this through some clever adaptations.
These adaptations, such as pointed tails to escape predators, or drinking without lifting their head up, can help us correctly ID them.
