- Zenaida macroura
Identification
23-34 cm (9.1-13.4 in)
- Light brown overall
- Black mark on neck/cheek
- Black spots on coverts
- Dark primaries
- Long tail
- Inner feathers longest
- Outer feathers tipped white
Males have a gray crown and rosy pink iridescence on their neck. Juveniles have a scaly appearance.
Wings whistle during take-off.
Similar Species
White-winged Dove has white wing patch. Eurasian Collared Dove has dark half-collar on nape. Both lack dark spots on wing coverts.
Distribution
Abundant and widespread across the USA and southern Canada from southern Alaska and British Columbia to Nova Scotia and south to Central America. A partial migrant with many birds in the north of the range moving south in August-September and returning north in April-May.
Has been recorded as a vagrant in Greenland. Extremely rare in the Western Palearctic, recorded twice in the British Isles, on the Isle of Man in October 1989 and in the Outer Hebrides in November 1999. Also, one in Iceland in October 1995 and one in Sweden in June 2001.
An introduced population is present in Hawaii.
Habitat
Open woodlands and cultivation, farmyards and gardens in towns.
Taxonomy
Subspecies
There are 5 subspecies[1]:
- Z. m. macroura Mourning Dove (Caribbean):
- Cuba, Isle of Pines, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico and Jamaica
Carolinensis Group (Mainland)
- Z. m. marginella':
- British Columbia to Baja California, western US and south-central Mexico
- Z. m. carolinensis:
- Z. m. clarionensis:
- Isla Clarión (Revillagigedo Islands off western Mexico)
- Z. m. turturilla:
- Costa Rica and western Panama
Behaviour
Diet
Diet consists almost entirely of seeds and other plant matter. They are a common visitor to backyard bird feeders.
Breeding
Flimsy sticks nest is placed on ground or in bushes, or trees when available. Clutch is one to three, but usually 2 white eggs. Multi-brooded in most areas and nests often reused.
Vocalisation
A low series of coos ooo-a-ooo oooo ooo ooo
Movements
Birds from more northern latitudes winter as far south as Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica. However birds breeding in central and southern North America are resident.
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, S. M. Billerman, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2019. The eBird/Clements Checklist of Birds of the World: v2019. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Otis, D. L., J. H. Schulz, D. Miller, R. E. Mirarchi, and T. S. Baskett (2020). Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (A. F. Poole, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.moudov.01
- Baptista, L.F., Trail, P.W., Horblit, H.M., Boesman, P. & Garcia, E.F.J. (2020). Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura). In: del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., Sargatal, J., Christie, D.A. & de Juana, E. (eds.). Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. (retrieved from https://www.hbw.com/node/54205 on 18 April 2020).
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Mourning Dove. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 16 April 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Mourning_Dove
External Links
GSearch checked for 2020 platform.
