Mourning Doves: Provide Nesting Places to Attract Wild Doves

In the pleasant days of open windows and porch swings, the subtle coo-dle-ooo, coo, coo of mourning doves is a welcome sound. Mourning doves are migratory birds, and their return to northern climates heralds spring. They live in most areas of North America, migrating from as far north as central Canada in the summer to Central America and the Caribbean in the winter. Doves live in cities as well as rural areas. They have adapted to living near humans, nesting in places with lots of human activity. Doves in the wild have a life span of 4 to 5 years, while in captivity they may live for 16 years. Even with an 80 percent mortality rate for wild young, the North American dove population remains at an estimated 475 million.

Mourning doves are named for their slow, melancholy cooing. About 12 inches long, mourning doves are a lovely shade of gray-brown, with black spots on their wing feathers. They have a black cheek smudge, a black bill, and reddish-orange feet. A very narrow light blue ring accentuates each bright black eye. Identify doves in flight or perched on a wire by their pointed tails. When they lift off from the ground or a perch position, they make a squeak with each wing flap until they are aloft. Doves are ground feeders, making them easy prey for cats.

Mourning doves mate for life. For nesting spots, they prefer high open places where they have a good view of oncoming predators. This is more a self-preservation instinct rather than protection for their young; doves are not particularly good parents. If under sudden threat, doves will quickly flee the nest, even knocking the nest apart and losing eggs or babies in the process.

Both the males and females build the nest, which is a rather poorly constructed loose pile of pine needles or twigs. Mourning doves build their nests in open tree crotches, building ledges, porch rafters, bridge girders, flat rock ledges or anyplace with a similar open feeling. If you want to provide a place for mourning doves to nest in your garden, mount an unpainted wooden platform about 8 inches square on top of a pole, or attach it 7 to 14 feet high on the side of a building as a shelf. Position it so it is not in full sun. Leave the front open, and nail wood strips no more than 2 or 3 inches high on the sides of the platform to make the nest more secure. A roof is not necessary, but if you want to add a roof, make it no taller than 8 inches. Doves will not build in a "house" that is enclosed and dark, opting for a more precarious natural ledge. Put a nesting platform out in late summer or early fall so migrating birds can take note of it. Use ONLY untreated lumber. Treated wood contains arsenic and other chemicals that can poison birds.

Mourning doves lay 2 or 3 white eggs, incubating them for 14 to 15 days. The male and female share incubation responsibilities, but the mother takes care of the young after they hatch. She produces (regurgitates) a milky substance to feed her young. The babies leave the nest in 12 days or so, and the parents begin another brood. They may reuse the same nest for 6 broods over the summer, remodeling with new twigs as necessary.

Mourning doves and nest slideshow here.

Read more from this author here.

Resources:
Personal Experience
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/395041/mourning-dove
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Mourning_Dove/id
Petersen's Field Guide