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Birdaday Field Notes

Species profile

Mourning Dove: identification, calls, food and nesting

The Mourning Dove is the slim, buffy-tan bird on the wire and on the bare ground under the feeder. Cornell calls it North America's most widespread and abundant game bird. A shorter profile sits on common backyard birds.

Quick facts

Fact Mourning Dove
Scientific name Zenaida macroura, family Columbidae (Cornell). Named Columba macroura by Linnaeus in 1758 (Wikipedia)
Length 9.1–13.4 in (Cornell); 9–13 in (Audubon)
Weight Males 3.4–6.0 oz, females 3.0–5.5 oz (Cornell); 3–6 oz (Audubon)
Wingspan 17.7 in (Cornell); 17 in (Audubon)
Population Estimates differ widely; see numbers and hunting below
Status Low Concern (Cornell); Least Concern (IUCN, via Audubon)
Oldest known At least 30 years 4 months: banded in Georgia in 1968, shot in Florida in 1998 (Cornell)

How to identify a Mourning Dove

Cornell describes a robin-sized, plump-bodied dove with a small head, short legs and a long, pointed tail, which is unusual among North American doves. It is smaller and slimmer than a Rock Pigeon.

Mourning Dove perched on a bare branch against a green background, facing the camera: small head with a pale blue eye-ring and thin dark bill, buffy-tan breast, gray folded wings, and a long pointed tail with pale feather tips below
Mourning Dove in Prospect Park, Brooklyn, New York (May 2023): note the small head, buffy-tan body and long, pointed tail (Cornell). A Featured picture on Wikimedia Commons.
Photo: Rhododendrites / CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Mourning Dove field marks and tail shapesA simplified side view of a generic dove perched on a wire, facing left, with eight numbered field marks: small head, thin black bill, black neck mark, black spots on the wing, long pointed tail, white tail tips edged in black, pinkish legs and pale peach underparts. To the right, three tail outlines compare the pointed tail of a Mourning Dove, the squared tail of a Eurasian Collared-Dove and the wide, rounded tail of a Rock Pigeon. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
  1. Small head (Cornell); blue-gray crown on males (Audubon).
  2. Thin black bill (Cornell).
  3. Black neck mark, sometimes hidden (Cornell).
  4. Large black wing spots (Cornell).
  5. Long, pointed tail (Cornell).
  6. White tail tips edged in black, obvious in flight (Cornell).
  7. Pinkish legs (Cornell).
  8. Pale peach underparts (Cornell).
  9. Mourning Dove: pointed tail.
  10. Eurasian Collared-Dove: squared tail, broad white patches.
  11. Rock Pigeon: wide, rounded tail (all Cornell).
Drawn for Birdaday Field Notes as a generic dove shape. Field marks follow All About Birds and Audubon, cited below. Colors approximate. Not to scale.

Male vs female. Cornell's ID page doesn't separate the sexes. Audubon says the male has a pinkish chest and blue-gray crown; the female is duller and browner.

Juveniles show small white tips on most upperpart feathers and white face markings (Cornell). Audubon notes they look scaly and can be mistaken for an Inca Dove or Common Ground Dove.

Look-alikes

Species Where (Cornell) How it differs (Cornell)
Eurasian Collared-Dove Towns and suburbs across much of the US except the Northeast Larger (11.4–11.8 in). Chalky light brown to gray-buff, black crescent on the back of the neck, squared-off tail
White-winged Dove Southwestern deserts; Texas and coastal Southeast towns Larger, square-tailed. Unspotted upperparts; white wing stripe that flashes in flight
Rock Pigeon Cities, towns and farmland Larger (11.8–14.2 in). Most bluish gray with two black wing bands
Inca Dove Towns, parks and farms; has spread north to Colorado Smaller (7.1–9.1 in), scaly all over, chestnut underwings in flight

Song, calls and the wing whistle

Food and feeders

Seeds make up 99% of the diet (Cornell, Audubon). A dove fills its crop quickly, then digests on a safe perch; the record is 17,200 bluegrass seeds in one crop (Cornell). It swallows grit and often eats on the ground beneath elevated feeders (Audubon).

Food What the sources say
White proso millet Scatter on the ground or a platform feeder (Cornell). No more than birds eat in a day; skip it if cowbirds or House Sparrows take over (Cornell seed guide)
Cracked corn Attracts doves (FeederWatch). Most likely food to carry aflatoxins: keep it dry, never red-dyed (Cornell seed guide)
Oats Doves and quail are the species most likely to come (FeederWatch)
Safflower Some doves eat it (Cornell seed guide)

Cornell advises keeping cats indoors, since ground feeders are vulnerable. See what to feed backyard birds, bird feeder types and how to clean a bird feeder.

Nesting: flimsy nests, many broods

The male carries twigs to the female over 2–4 days, and she weaves a loose platform about 8 inches across; pairs readily nest on gutters or eaves (Cornell). Both parents feed the young "pigeon milk" (Audubon), alone for the first 3–4 days (Wikipedia). Sources differ:

Stage Cornell Lab Audubon Other sources
Site Dense foliage; ground nests common in the West Tree or shrub, usually under 40 ft Nest cone 6–10 ft up (NestWatch)
Clutch 2 white eggs Not stated Almost always 2 (Wikipedia)
Incubation 14 days About 14 days, by both parents About two weeks (Wikipedia)
Nestling period 12–15 days Leave at about 15 days; fed nearby 1–2 more weeks 11–15 days (Wikipedia)
Broods 1–6 Up to 6; southern pairs 5–6 2–3 in succession (NestWatch)
One Mourning Dove nesting cycle, in daysA timeline from day 0 to day 50 with five rows: nest building for 2 to 4 days; incubation for 14 days; crop milk only for the first 3 to 4 days after hatching; nestlings in the nest for 12 to 15 days; and young out of the nest but still fed nearby for 1 to 2 weeks. A dashed line marks hatching. Dark bars show the shortest stated span and pale bars the longer end of the range. 01020304050 days 1 2 3 4 5
  1. Nest building: 2–4 days (Cornell).
  2. Incubation: 14 days (Cornell, Audubon). Dashed line: hatching.
  3. Crop milk only: the first 3–4 days after hatching (Wikipedia).
  4. Nestlings in the nest: 12–15 days (Cornell).
  5. Out of the nest, still fed nearby: 1–2 more weeks (Audubon).
Drawn for Birdaday Field Notes from the sources in the list. Assumes 4 days of building; real nests vary. Dark bars show the shortest stated span, pale bars the longer end.

Putting up a nest cone

NestWatch suggests a nest cone as a base for the flimsy nest, though doves don't strictly need one (our birdhouse dimensions table covers boxes). Its specs:

Cornell says to put it up well before breeding season.

Numbers, hunting and lead

Population figures disagree. Cornell's overview gives 350 million in the US; its life-history page cites 150 million worldwide (Partners in Flight), as does Audubon. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's 2026 status report estimates about 329 million in the US as of 1 September 2025. Numbers fell about 0.4% a year from 1966 to 2019 (Cornell).

Cornell says hunters shoot more than 20 million a year; the USFWS estimates 15,517,700 for the 2025 US season, and says its survey data help set annual hunting regulations. For seasons and rules, see official federal and state wildlife-agency sources.

Doves also swallow spent lead shot: around fields planted for doves, about 1 in 20 eats lead (Cornell).

For your Bird-a-Day streak

Some Mourning Doves winter over most of the breeding range, though many northern birds move south (Audubon). Check wires and bare ground; the coo counts by ear (see the challenge guide). Plan reserve birds like this, the American Goldfinch and Blue Jay with the species planner.

Dove-friendly yard checklist

Sources