The Mourning Dove

Mourning doves on the Sycamore Greenway

The mourning dove is a widespread and charismatic bird in the human landscape. Found in Iowa year-round, they are common visitors to suburban backyard birdfeeders and their sweet coo-AH coo-ooo-ooo is easily (and sometimes incessantly) heard as males woo potential mates.

I remember as a little one chasing a chubby brown dove around my Granny's yard, thinking it was injured because it wouldn't fly...until it had enough of my antics and took off for a nearby roof. Later, I knew mourning doves as the dummies who nested in our gutter and regularly dropped their naked, pink babies onto the scorching wood surface of our deck (sometimes to be snaffled up by the dog before we could stop him, or--*shudder*--stepped on barefoot in a horrific incident that still makes my toes curl up decades later). They were bland, common birds that faded into the background, much like robins.

Now, I  recognize the simple elegance of their appearance and song. The smooth tawny feathers with simple black spots on the face and wings, and the bright orange legs. The males may have a subtle bluish cap and small iridescent patches on either side of their neck. Their narrow, pointed tails fan out when taking flight to reveal a wedge of white-tipped feathers that are normally hidden from sight. Young birds have feathers that are lighter at the edges, giving them a "scaly" appearance compared to the adults until their first molt.

Photographed in my backyard.

Mourning doves are far from dull! In fact, they feature a couple of unique adaptations. You have probably heard the distinctive whistle of a startled mourning dove taking flight, caused by the movement of air over feathers. This sound is believed to function as an alarm call, a cue to others to take off when danger approaches.

When it comes to drinking, mourning doves--like others in the pigeon family--use suction rather than the common "beak dip, then tilt the head back" method of other birds. You can watch doves at a birdbath hold their bills in the water continuously as they drink, while sparrows, robins, and other birds will have to pause and look up to swallow.

For nearly a century, hunting mourning doves was prohibited in Iowa, until a bit of legislative chicanery opened the door to establishing a season in 2011. Since 2013, over 100,000 doves have been killed annually in the state, contributing to a nationwide total of over 20 million killed each year. The mourning dove's adaptability to human environments and high rate of reproduction help mitigate the effects of hunting, though the thought provides little solace to those who hoped to maintain Iowa's humane tradition of protecting these lovely,  soft-spoken birds.

They may be ungainly on the ground, slow-moving and heavy (which may account for the reluctance to fly unless necessary that young me noted in Granny's yard that long-ago day), but once they explode into the air they are swift and maneuverable fliers--a fact I did not fully appreciate until attempting to photograph them on the Greenway! 

Sources/Additional Information:

• All About Birds: Mourning Dove 
• Audubon Field Guide: Mourning Dove 
• Birdwatcher's General Store: Dove Wing Whistle 
• Flights of fear: a mechanical wing whistle sounds the alarm in a flocking bird (not specific to mourning doves, but an interesting resource - sgf)