Mourning Dove
Zenaida macroura
Summary 5
The Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura) is a member of the dove family (Columbidae). The bird is also called the Turtle Dove or the American Mourning Dove or Rain Dove, and formerly was known as the Carolina Pigeon or Carolina Turtledove. It is one of the most abundant and widespread of all North American birds. It is also the leading gamebird, with more than 20 million birds (up to 70 million in some years) shot annually in...
Distribution 6
Mourning doves are only native to the Nearctic region. They live from southern Canada, throughout the United States, and south to Panama. Mourning doves are found year-round throughout most of their range but northern populations migrate south during the winter.
Biogeographic Regions: nearctic (Native )
Morphology 7
Mourning doves are medium-sized birds in the pigeon family. Their size, weight, and specific coloration vary across their range. They have a stream-lined appearance, with a relatively small head and a long, pointed tail. They are overall grayish blue to grayish brown on their backs with black spots on their wings and behind their eyes. There are white tips on the tail. They have a small, black bill and red legs and feet. Males are larger than females and are slightly brighter in color, males have a bluish crown and a rosy breast.
Range mass: 96.0 to 170.0 g.
Range length: 22.5 to 36.0 cm.
Range wingspan: 142.0 to 150.0 mm.
Other Physical Features: endothermic ; homoiothermic; bilateral symmetry
Sexual Dimorphism: male larger; male more colorful
Average basal metabolic rate: 0.736 W.
Habitat 8
Mourning doves are highly adaptable birds and are found in a wide variety of habitats. They are more common in open woodlands and forest edges near grasslands and fields. They are most abundant in agricultural and suburban areas where humans have created large areas of suitable habitat.
Habitat Regions: temperate ; terrestrial
Terrestrial Biomes: desert or dune ; savanna or grassland ; chaparral ; forest ; scrub forest
Other Habitat Features: suburban ; agricultural
Migration 9
Non-Migrant: Yes. At least some populations of this species do not make significant seasonal migrations. Juvenile dispersal is not considered a migration.
Locally Migrant: Yes. At least some populations of this species make local extended movements (generally less than 200 km) at particular times of the year (e.g., to breeding or wintering grounds, to hibernation sites).
Locally Migrant: Yes. At least some populations of this species make annual migrations of over 200 km.
Northern populations arrive in breeding areas in March-April, depart by around mid-September (Terres 1980). Peak southward migration occurs in August in central U.S. Resident populations in south are augmented in northern winter by migrants from northern temperate zone.
Doves banded west of the Continental Divide in Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, and New Mexico were recovered primarily south and west of banding areas (34% in Mexico), and recoveries west of the Divide came primarily from bandings west of the main north-south mountain ranges; the cordilleras forming the Divide appear to be impediments to east-west migration (Braun 1979).
Sources and Credits
- (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
- (c) Katja Schulz, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2478/3869155495_259ccaa2e9.jpg
- (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) lunagato51, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)
- (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zenaida_macroura
- (c) The Regents of the University of Michigan and its licensors, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/31430370
- (c) The Regents of the University of Michigan and its licensors, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/31430372
- (c) The Regents of the University of Michigan and its licensors, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/31430371
- (c) NatureServe, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://eol.org/data_objects/28822978
