Nature Bulletin No. 691   October 27, 1962
Forest Preserve District of Cook County
Seymour Simon, President
David H. Thompson, Senior Naturalist

****:THE MOURNING DOVE

One of the familiar voices of an American spring is a low-pitched, 
moaning ooah, cooo, cooo, coo that sounds as if someone were blowing 
across the mouth of a jug. Like the work of an expert ventriloquist, it 
seems to come from one direction, then another until, with a whistle of 
wings, a bird clad in soft colors flashes away.

The mourning dove -- commonly called turtle dove -- has a light brown 
head and back but the neck and breast shimmer like watered silk with 
tints of rose, lavender and tan. The feathers of the long sharp tail are 
tipped with white. The beak is black and the feet are red. The bird has 
long pointed wings and is streamlined for speed. The sexes are much 
alike and average about four ounces in weight. The male puffs out his 
chest and does all the cooing.

The nest is an unlined platform of twigs built at any height from ground 
level to the tops of the tallest trees, and so flimsy that the eggs can often 
be seen from below. The two creamy white eggs are incubated by both 
parents, with the male taking the day shift from about 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., 
and the female the rest of the time. This schedule allows each to find 
food and water. The eggs hatch on the 14th day.

At first the young are fed on "pigeon milk", a cheesy liquid secreted by 
the throats and crops of the parents and pumped into the young. When 
their bills are interlocked, the young bird's mouth pops open and it 
starts to swallow. Soon the diet of pigeon milk is replaced by seeds 
regurgitated from the crops of the parents. The fledglings are fully 
grown and leave the nest by the time they are two weeks old. The same 
parents may hatch two, occasionally three, and rarely four broods of 
young before the summer is over.

After leaving the nest the young remain with their parents for about ten 
days while they learn to feed themselves and find their way to water. 
They gather into flocks and, by July, start to migrate southward. Here in 
Illinois the adults usually linger until September or October and a few, 
perhaps only one in a hundred, stay all winter.

The mourning dove nests from southern Canada to Mexico and in all of 
the 48 states between. In winter they are concentrated from our Gulf 
states southward through the West Indies and Mexico to Central 
America. It is an All-American bird.

The dove is strictly a seed eater -- about two-thirds weed seeds and one-
third waste grain from farmers' fields. The food left behind by the 
mechanical corn picker makes it one of the dove's best friends.

Late each afternoon, doves habitually make a trip for a drink of water -- 
often flying as much as five miles to get it. Pioneers crossing the 
western plains where water was scarce learned to find it by following 
their flight. Unlike most birds that dip their beaks and then raise their 
heads to let the water trickle down their throats, doves and pigeons 
drink like a youngster sucking pop through a straw.

Ironically, this little symbol of peace and gentleness is hunted as a game 
bird in 31 states. In most of the others it is regarded as a songbird and 
protected at all times. Where shooting is permitted, it is regulated by 
both federal and state laws. The 1962 rules for dove hunting in Illinois 
are typical. The open season is September 1st through November 9th, 
from noon C. S. T. until sunset. The daily limit is twelve birds. They 
may not be hunted over baited ground nor with any gun except with a 
shotgun. A tricky swift-flying target, the dove challenges the skill of the 
early autumn hunter. The annual kill in Illinois is roughly a half million.

Next, we can expect an open season on dragonflies.