Mourning Dove
Zenaida macroura
Summary 3
The Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura) is medium-sized dove, most easily identified by its grayish-tan body, speckled back, black “ear” patch behind the eye, and long pointed tail. Male and female Mourning Doves are similar to one another in all seasons.
To hear examples of their calls and sounds go to http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Mourning_Dove/sounds
Where on campus? 4
Commonly seen in central campus area foraging in lawns.
Habitat 4
Mourning Doves inhabit a number of habitats across this species’ wide range, including woodland edges, bushy fields, meadows, and scrubland. This species has also adapted to living near humans, and visits agricultural fields as well as urban and suburban areas where food is available.
Life History 4
Nesting Mourning Doves will nest in conifers or on the ground in a flimsy nest built of sticks and twigs. They are monogamous.
Feeding Mourning Doves almost exclusively eat seeds and grains on the ground. They eat enough seeds to fill their crops and then perch to digest.
Distribution 4
The Mourning Dove breeds across much of the North American continent south of southern Canada.
Migration 4
Northerly-breeding populations migrate south to southern Mexico and Central America during the winter, whereas populations breeding further south in the U.S.and Mexico are non-migratory. Other non-migratory populations exist in the West Indies and at scattered locations in Central America.
Sources and Credits
- (c) Wikimedia Commons, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/33/Zenaida_macroura1.jpg/460px-Zenaida_macroura1.jpg
- (c) http://www.naturespicsonline.com/, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b7/Mourning_Dove_2006.jpg/460px-Mourning_Dove_2006.jpg
- Adapted by gillian360 from a work by (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zenaida_macroura
- (c) gillian360, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA)
