A Mourning Dove Story

Mourning doves are common birds in North America; belong to the pigeons and doves family. They are seen in wooded and open areas and eat mainly seeds off ground.

The beginning of the story -

In a morning in spring,  I looked out and saw a pair of mourning dove couple nested on the tree outside of my window. Then I had the opportunity to observe them for four successful broods of two youngsters each, during this breeding season from mid-April to early October.

My observations 
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1. Nest preparation behavior 

• Mourning doves couple build durable nest together. They reinforce and reuse their nest for each brood.
• The nest usage cycle is about 30 days, not including fledglings.
• The couple came and leaves together and spends 1-2 hours in the nest for consecutive 3 – 4 days, prior to the next brood incubation, working jointly for nest reinforcement/preparations.
• The (assumed) male fly back and forth, choose and pick one piece of twig or grass at a time from the nearby ground, bring to the (assumed) female who stays in the nest on the tree. She uses the new material in the nest and turns around in it, testing the comfort and durability. [Note: The gender difference apparently is not obvious in mourning doves and it was practically difficult to identify their gender in distance. Therefore, gender assumptions were applied based on their behavior patterns.]
• An interesting landing pattern was seen - the (assumed) male makes his landing on the (assumed) female’s back, when coming into the nest. He will then head down and deliver the new material to the female underneath, for her to utilize it in the nest. This landing pattern was only observed during the nest preparation stage and was not seen during incubation.

2. Nesting behavior

• The female laid her first egg in the evening, and then second egg overnight. After 15 days of incubation (day and night, rain or shine), one egg hatched few hours ahead of the other. 
• Both parents were actively involved; the (assumed) male incubates the eggs during the day, and the (assumed) female incubates at night. The rotations were between 7 – 9 am and 5 – 7 pm.
• The young chicks were quiet for the first week and became increasingly active the second week. Their dark feather coat appears to be fully grown about 10 – 12 days after hatching. One parent always covers the youngsters to provide warmth; until their feather fully grow. 
• As the youngsters grow bigger, the nest was filled. The parent sometimes stays out of the nest on the nearby tree branch and sometimes went away to bring back more food for feeding needs.
• Stress behavior was observed when a squirrel run up the tree and got very close to the nest. The parent responded with stretching its wings, but did not fly away.
• Protective behavior was observed on a raining day (this was the day before the youngsters left nest and they were fully feathered), the parent remained in the nest and covered both youngster all day.

3. Parent/feeding interactions

• Both parents share incubating and feeding their young. Incubation lasts 14 to 15 days. When first hatched, the young doves were motionless and completely covered by the parent. The first moves of the youngsters were seen about the 3rd day after hatching and they became increasingly active in the nest during the next 2 weeks.
• The youngsters were fed fresh crop milk (a liquid secreted from the lining of the crop, a muscular pouch near the throat, of adult) and regurgitated food by parent mouth to mouth.
• The feeding time and feeding interval increase during the next two weeks. The youngsters ate more and more often as they grow. Feeding time ranged from 5 – 6 minutes to more than 10 minutes. Apparently, parents were unbiased and provided nutrients fairly, as the youngsters appear to grow equally in size.

4. Leaving The Nest

• When the youngsters begging food more aggressively and flapping their wings in the nest, it’s a sure sign for their readiness to leave the nest, which happens in the next few days.
• The parents will reduce the feeding and leaving them alone for some short period of time. The twin youngsters were seen comforting each other in the nest.
• Leaving the nest requires courage. The youngsters were seen agitated, turns and flapping wings in the nest, making getting-out attempts for a couple of hours; under the parent’s watch and encouragement from the nearby tree branch.
• On day 15 evening, the big moment came. One youngster made a brave leap out of the nest on the tree branch nearby. The parent then flew out the nest, guiding the youngster moving from branch to branch on the nesting tree. The other youngster then followed. I was very excited to witness this moment for the first time. The twins spent the first night out of the nest on the nesting tree and a parent stayed with them. 

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5. Fledglings

• Many people think the birds fly away to the freedom sky after leaving the nest, but this is not true. The parents continue to care and feed the young on the ground, teach them to find their own food, also guard and guide them from short to longer flight until they learn all surviving skills to be a dove. 
• The young leave the nest about 15 days after hatching but remain nearby until they are more accomplished at flying, about 30 days old.
• The youngsters on the ground are called fledglings, and the parents continue to feed them. This is a normal stage in dove development. The parents continued to care for the fledglings until they were about 27-30 days old.
• A very interesting observation was made for the 3rd brood, when youngster A came out the nest alone. I found it on a lower branch of the nest tree and I was able to get very close, for a clear picture (see below).  The youngster did not avoid my approach, just stretched its wings as a stress response.

• Later of the day, I found youngster A on the ground, hiding in the corner of the house behind the nesting tree. The next morning, I saw the (assumed) male parent staying with youngster A closely side by side on the ground, and the (assumed) female parent was in the nest with youngster B.The (assumed) male parent flew away when I got closer, then the youngster A flew into the bushes of the next door, in a very low attitude.
• Surprisingly, both youngsters were seen in the nest again 2 days later (I could not figure out how youngster A went up to the nest) and nest feeding continued as usual.
• The young siblings were seen together on the ground near the nest tree for about 5 days. They were staying close and comforting each other.

6. Parental guidance on survival skills​

• Flying lesson - on the next day of the youngster leaving the nest (of the 2nd brood); the parent (assumed was the male) led the youngsters to fly, in short distance between the tree tops across the street. Then the parent stayed on a lower tree branch to supervise the youngsters to fly solo. One of them hit on my window, as it was unable to pull up high enough on the first day learn to fly, but they became more accomplished quickly.
• Protection and safety – Dove parents are very protective and they are keeping constant surveillance of their young. When I saw a youngster flew up from the ground to a low tree branch, I got closer for a close-up photo opportunity.  Suddenly, I heard a bird (assumed to be the parent) flew by passing the tree branch closely, with flapping wing noise which can be perceived as a call. The youngster picked up this non-vocal signal sent in flight and followed it away.

7.  Interactions and communications

• Mourning doves are seen in flocks, eating on the lawn. More often, they bond in pairs.
• The typical cooooOOOOO-woo-woo-woo calls were heard in the mornings of the breading season; which is almost always uttered by the male bird, not the female, and is an enticement to a mate or potential mate accordingly.
• Courtship and mating – In a beautiful summer morning on my deck, I saw a pair of doves’ courtship dance and mating. They were preening wing feathers, kissing each other on the neck/chest, and the male had a quick move of mounting to the female’s back briefly.
• When adult doves coming in to the nest, a soft tone vocal sound along with the flapping wing noises were often heard. It may signify for arrival.
• Sibling bonding – as mourning doves almost always raise two youngsters each brood, the sibling bonding was formed from hatching. The close sibling bond was observed for the fledglings, as they always stayed closely, comfort and accompanies each other.

8. Literature Information
I read more wild life literatures and researches, to satisfy my curiosity. My independent observations confirmed many behavior patterns as literature reported, also with unique discoveries and findings. 
Here are additional facts about mourning doves from other resources –

• Banding studies suggest that these doves mate for life. The sex of a Mourning Dove can be determined with lots of experience.
• After age day thirty they will usually join juvenile flocks to fly to distant feeding sites.
• Young are able to breed by 85 days old.
• Migration Patterns: Mourning doves migrate south from their breeding grounds each fall to a more hospitable climate for the winter months. During migration these birds may fly over 1000 miles to reach their winter resting spot. Mourning doves are swift and direct in flight. The young leave first, then the females, and finally the males. Some birds, most of them males, don't migrate at all but remain in the north.
• Doves have a strong homing instinct and will generally return to the same areas they were hatched year after year (Bolckstein 1968a).
• The average lifespan of a mourning dove is approximately a year and a half. According to the Wild Bird Watching website, mourning doves in their first year of life have a mortality rate of up to 75 percent, while adult mourning doves have a mortality rate of up to 60 percent. Following the survival of the first year, which is the hardest, mourning doves can live up to five years. The All about Birds website states that the oldest known mourning dove lived to be more than 31 years old.
• if you would like to attract birds to your backyard, go to https://happydiyhome.com/bird-friendly-backyard/ to learn more.

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The end of the story –

One day in the fall of the same year, I noticed the nest was gone. Not sure what had happened to it.
 
However, in the next early spring, I heard the first dove song from outside. Later in the morning, I saw the dove couple came back – the female was on the tree branch next to where the nest was and the male was on my window. They are ready for the new breeding season. Mourning Doves are reliable and responsible parents. Mourning dove parenting behavior enhances their offspring survival in wild life.

Thanks for being here. I hope to see my birdies home coming year after year. They will remember their nest tree and their first flight to the wild world, from my yard.  When making a nature connection, I feel the freedom of mind and body, energy of life, and a strong sense of humanity.

Please click the link below to enjoy Mourning Dove Documentary - my authentic photo slide show. 
http://down-album.xiaoniangao.cn/dl.php?id=253396279&t=1539140076178