The Mourning Dove

The mourning dove is a member of the family Columbidae and is closely related to the rock dove (domestic pigeon). It breeds across all of the lower 48 United States, much of Mexico, the southern and western edges of Canada, and into Alaska; it winters from Massachusetts, southern Michigan, Nebraska, and California south to Panama. Colloquial names are turtle dove, wild pigeon and wild dove.

An adult dove weighs 3½-5 ounces and is 10-13 inches in length from beak to tail tip. A dove is smaller and more streamlined than a pigeon, with a long, pointed tail and tapering wings that spread 17-19 inches. The neck is long, the head small, and the bill slender, short and black.

A dove's wings are gray, and its back, rump, and middle tailfeathers are grayish olive-brown. The lateral tailfeathers are bluish-gray, with black crossbars and white tips which flash when the bird is flying. The undersides of the body are pale buff; the head is buffy-brown with a black spot behind the eye and pale, blue skin visible around the eye. Legs and feet are reddish. Both sexes have similar plumage, although the male's colors are somewhat brighter and more iridescent, especially the head and breast.

The species' call is distinctive, and earns the "mourning" half of this bird's name. The call is a hollow, plaintive ooah, cooo, coo, coo . Depending on distance, only the last three notes may be audible. This call is made by males trying to attract females. After mating, it serves to bond the pair and ward off other males. While females may coo in response, their calls are weak and scarcely audible. Another distinctive sound identifies the mourning dove: a whistling produced by the wings of a bird in flight.

Text courtesy of Pennsylvania Game Commission.

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