Mourning Dove

Bird Directory

Mourning Dove

Click on picture to hear bird sounds.

Name: Mourning Dove

Field Marks: The Mourning Dove is a shy bird which is larger than a robin. Its back, wings and tapered tail are a dull brown. Its head and under parts are pale buff. There are white tips on its outer tail feathers.

Feeder Food: Mixed seeds and cracked corn

Natural Food: Berries, grain, seeds, fruit, and some insects

Behavior: You might hear the Mourning Dove's wings whistle as it takes flight. It lives in fields, towns and sandy scrub. Both the male and the female feed their young. They produce a milk-like mixture in their crop called "pigeon's milk".

Pictures and sounds were reproduced by permission.

Sources:

Alden, Peter and Brian Cassie, National Audubon Society Field Guide To New England, New York: Alfred A.Knopf, 1998.

Dawe, Neil and Karen, The Bird Book, New York: Workman Publishing, 1988.

Elliott, Lang, Know Your Bird Sounds (cassette), Minocqua, WI: NorthWord Press, Inc., 1994.

Forbush, Edward Howe, Birds of Massachusetts, Norwood, Massachusetts: Norwood Press, 1929.

Reed, Chester R., Bird Guide: Land Birds East of the Rockies, Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1951.

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Mourning Dove Click on picture to hear bird sounds.	Name: Mourning Dove
	Field Marks: The Mourning Dove is a shy bird which is larger than a robin. Its back, wings and tapered tail are a dull brown. Its head and under parts are pale buff. There are white tips on its outer tail feathers.
	Feeder Food: Mixed seeds and cracked corn
	Natural Food: Berries, grain, seeds, fruit, and some insects
	Behavior: You might hear the Mourning Dove's wings whistle as it takes flight. It lives in fields, towns and sandy scrub. Both the male and the female feed their young. They produce a milk-like mixture in their crop called "pigeon's milk".