Mourning Dove

Fascinating facts about the Mourning Dove

• Up to 70 million mourning doves are shot each year in the United States, yet the species still thrives because a single pair can raise as many as twelve chicks in warm regions, six broods of two young each. This extraordinary reproductive output lets the population absorb massive hunting pressure while remaining one of the most abundant North American birds. Their resilience highlights how prolific breeding can buffer even intense human exploitation.
• Mourning doves can fly at speeds of up to 88 km/h (55 mph), making them swift escape artists against predators like falcons and hawks. Their rapid, direct flight, combined with a low-altitude daytime migration, lets them cover over 1,000 miles to wintering grounds.
• A 2011 study showed that the iridescent neck feathers of mourning doves can become almost 50 % brighter when moisture evaporates from the feather surface, because the barbules twist to expose more reflective area. This reveals that even seemingly static plumage can dynamically change with environmental conditions, challenging long-held ideas about fixed feather colors.
• The mourning dove's range spans nearly 11 million km², covering the Greater Antilles, most of Mexico, the continental United States, southern Canada, and Bermuda. Such a vast distribution across open woodlands, farms, suburbs, and grasslands makes it highly adaptable.
• Both parents feed newborn squabs crop milk for the first 3-4 days, an energy-rich secretion before the chicks switch to seeds.

Sources

Every fact above was checked against these pages, and kept only where one of them states it.

• Wikipedia

At a glance

About the Mourning Dove

As the sun rises over the grasslands, a mournful melody echoes across the landscape, heralding the presence of the Mourning Dove, its gentle, lilting call a haunting serenade to the dawn. With a soft, gray-brown plumage that seems to shimmer in the morning light, this dove glides effortlessly through the underbrush, its long, slender tail feathers streaming behind it like a banner. In its quiet, unassuming way, the Mourning Dove is a remarkable creature, its very existence a testament to the enduring beauty and simplicity of the natural world.

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