We have had a lot more mourning doves in our backyard this winter. They like to sit in the trees for a long time, especially when it is sunny back there. It’s a perfect opportunity to take their photos.
They are very common, which means that we don’t think about them very much, except when their cooing sound wakes us in the morning. They are well named, as they make a mournful cooing sound. It is soft and drawn out.
One pair of doves can have up to six brooding times in a year if they are in a warm area, each time producing two young ones. Both of the parents look after the eggs, and the young ones when they are hatched. Both parents feed the very young with “pigeon milk”. This comes from the lining of the esophagus.
They can fly quite fast – up to 55 miles per hour. Some remain through the winter, but many fly south to where it is warmer.
It doesn’t take long for them to eat up the seeds at our bird feeder. Apparently they eat quickly and then digests the seeds while they are resting. They do seem to do a lot of resting on the branches around.
Something I didn’t know is that there is a hunting season in Ontario for mourning doves. I don’t think we will be doing that as we enjoy watching them.
