The Living Landscape: Mourning doves
- Kathleen Scavone
- Posted On
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – As we all practice social distancing and spend more time at home, we become ever more attuned to the nuances of our backyards and surroundings.
For example, the music of nature's wind song and the concurrent movement that creates swaying trees.
Now, wild iris, blue-eyed grass and native sunflowers are all showing up. Who can dispute that the cacophony of birdsong in the early morning hours known as the dawn chorus with its variety of cheeps, chirps, trills and twitters is not amazing?
This is the time of day when mainly the males of the bird species are attempting with all they've got to win a mate, claim their territory or protect their province.
One of nature's more beautiful bird songs is that of the mourning dove. Their song is a gentle coo, and can almost be described as poignant.
Since mourning doves are seed eaters, a pair is often seen near my backyard bird feeder after the blue jays, nuthatches, grosbeaks and house finches spill some tasty tidbits for their meal.
Mourning doves will occasionally consume wild grasses, berries, the occasional snail and other non-seed foodstuffs, but seeds are their food of choice.
While feeding on seed, the birds store the food in pouches located in their esophagus called a crop.
After the crop is full the doves take time to digest the seeds somewhere secluded from danger. If adult male or female doves have young, which are known as squabs, they will feed the digested seeds, or crop milk to their squabs since the young are unable to digest raw seeds themselves.
Both sexes sit on the nests prior to hatching to incubate the eggs in nests made haphazardly of grasses and twigs.
The plump-looking brownish-to-tan birds show black spots on their wings and a long, elegant tail. This species of dove is found all across America.
According to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology another bird in their family, the non-native Eurasian collared-dove is colonizing North America rapidly and may be affecting the native mourning dove populations.
Mourning doves have an extended cultural history affiliated with peace, and celebrations such as weddings and other holidays.
The eastern mourning dove has a starring role as both Michigan and Wisconsin's state symbol of peace.
According to the book, “Pomo Myths” by S.A. Barrett, Dove has a featured part in the Pomo Indian myth called “The Theft of the Sun,” which takes place in Scotts Valley and also features Blue Jay, Lizard, Crow and Buzzard.
North American poets Robert Bly, Jared Carter, Lorine Niedecker and Charles Wright have all incorporated mourning doves into their poetry.
For more information on mourning doves and other birds, and to become involved in citizen science projects, visit the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's Nest Watch site at https://nestwatch.org/ .
Kathleen Scavone, M.A., is a retired educator, potter, freelance writer and author of “Anderson Marsh State Historic Park: A Walking History, Prehistory, Flora, and Fauna Tour of a California State Park” and “Native Americans of Lake County.”