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Mourning Dove

Mourning Dove

Zenaida macroura

Identify the Mourning Dove by sound or photo and log your sightings with Birdpass.

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The Mourning Dove is one of North America's most abundant birds, a slim, soft grey-brown dove with a long, pointed tail, known for its plaintive, “mourning” coo. It is a swift, strong flier whose wings whistle on take-off. Despite heavy hunting it remains common thanks to prolific breeding, raising many two-chick broods a year. It is an extremely rare vagrant to Europe.

Did you know?

  • Tens of millions are harvested by hunters in the United States each year.
  • Its wings whistle distinctively when it takes off and lands.

Voice

Call

About the species

Identification

A slim, small-headed dove with a long, pointed tail with white-tipped outer feathers. It is grey-brown above with black spots on the wings, pinkish-buff below, and has a small black spot below the eye. It is slimmer and longer-tailed than Collared Dove and lacks its black neck collar.

Family

Columbidae

Size

Medium (thrush)

Colours

brown, grey, black, white

About the habitat

Open and semi-open habitats – farmland, prairies, towns, gardens and woodland edges – across North and Central America.

Diet

Almost entirely seeds, of grasses, weeds and grain, taken on the ground; the chicks are fed crop milk.

Behaviour

Usually monogamous, it raises several broods of two young a year, with both parents incubating and feeding the chicks. It flies fast – up to about 88 km/h – and its wings make a sharp whistling sound on take-off and landing. It gives a soft, mournful “coo-OO-oo-oo-oo”.

Sources

Photo: Rhododendrites, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mourning dove perched (61179).jpg

Sound: Jonathon Jongsma, XC128006, CC BY-SA 3.0 https://xeno-canto.org/128006

Text: Wikipedia (English), CC BY-SA 4.0 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mourning_dove

See also