Mourning Dove

One specie of birds that have been visiting my backyard from day one have been the Mourning Doves. They are out there very early in the morning and very late in the evening, foraging for food. They are voracious eaters. Although they look very passive and fragile, however, that’s far from the truth, they can be very agressive and are tough as nails. It does not matter if the weather is very hot or cold, raining hard or snowing, windy or foggy. They will be out there looking for food at the feeders.

8 thoughts on “Mourning Dove”

jmgoyder on July 30, 2012 at 9:15 am said:

Do you know why they are called ‘mourning’? I am curious.

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avian101 on July 30, 2012 at 9:35 am said:

Its plaintive woo-OO-oo-oo-oo call gives the bird its name. Thanks for your visit Julie! 🙂

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bayphotosbydonna on July 30, 2012 at 8:44 pm said:

Great shots, HJ! And I didn’t know that they were aggressive like that. I just thought they were so fragile like you said. Thanks for the fact! I’ll be watching them a little different now, looking for that behavior to try and capture. 🙂

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- avian101 on July 30, 2012 at 11:22 pm said:
  
  Thank you Donna! 🙂
  
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Scott on July 30, 2012 at 9:04 pm said:

I think I read somewhere that they have a food pouch in their throat — they fill it up at the feeder and fly off to a perch for digesting?

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- avian101 on July 30, 2012 at 11:25 pm said:
  
  Yes they are able to regurgitate for feeding their nestlings. Did you know that they also have a kind of milk in that pouch? Thanks for your comment Scott! 🙂
  
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Daphne Shadows on July 31, 2012 at 3:57 am said:

They’re gorgeous! Thanks for sharing – I especially love the ones where you can see more of their wings.

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- avian101 on July 31, 2012 at 9:05 am said:
  
  Thank you Daphne! 🙂
  
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