Doves & Pigeons

resources

Mourning Doves

 Mourning Dove Harvest Strategy (541.8KB)

This strategy informs annual harvest management decisions for mourning doves in the three Management Units (Eastern, Central and Western). The strategy was developed by the Dove Task Force using the best available information. The objectives of the strategy are to ensure the long-term conservation of mourning dove populations and to minimize the frequency of regulatory change. The strategy describes the technical details of how monitoring data are used to estimate and predict the annual abundance of mourning doves in each Management Unit, and how these predictions are used to inform the selection of regulatory packages (daily bag limit and season length).

 Mourning Dove Population Status (1.1MB)

This report is produced annually. The report summarizes information collected in the United States on the survival, recruitment, abundance, and harvest of mourning doves. This report provides all the information necessary for the Harvest Strategy.

 Mourning Dove National Strategic Harvest Management Plan (3.4MB)

This plan provided the framework for what became the Mourning Dove Harvest Strategy. The purpose of this plan was to: (1) promote the concept of coordinated management of mourning doves to insure uniformity of regulatory action and equitable conservation across the species range in the three Mourning Dove Management Units; (2) acknowledge the need to recognize demographic differences among management units; and, (3) acknowledge that the existing harvest management system, and the knowledge base supporting it, needed improvement.

 Mourning and White-winged Doves, A Funding Strategy (2.9MB)

This strategy was developed in 2008 by the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies' Migratory Shore and Upland Game Bird Support Task Force. It contains recommendations for obtaining priority information needed to improve habitat and harvest management decisions for migratory populations of Mourning and White-winged Doves, focusing on evaluating and improving knowledge of monitoring efforts, vital rates (survival, reproduction, and recruitment), and habitat needs during the annual cycle of these birds. The Strategy is intended to increase financial support for management and research activities over the next 5 to 10 years with thoughtful and deliberate planning built on basic scientific principles.

 Mourning Dove Banding Needs Assessment (254.6KB)

This assessment was prepared by Dr. Dave Otis to determine how many Mourning Doves to band, and in what locations, to reliably estimate annual survival and harvest rate. The goal of the assessment was to determine the banding allocation needed to inform a hypothetical harvest strategy.

Monitoring Programs for the Mourning Dove

•  Breeding Bird Survey
• Banding Program
o A national banding program was initiated in 2003 to improve our understanding of mourning dove population biology and to help estimate the effect of harvest on mourning dove populations. Doves are banded in July and August in most of the lower 48 states. Band recoveries occur almost exclusively during the U.S. hunting seasons which occur between 1 September and 15 January.
• Parts (Wing) Collection Survey
• Harvest Information Program

Band-tailed Pigeons

 Band-tailed Pigeons, Zenaida Doves, White-tipped Doves, and Scaly-naped Pigeons, A Funding Strategy (129KB)

This strategy contains recommendations for obtaining priority information needed to improve habitat and harvest management decisions for populations of Band-Tailed pigeons, Zenaida Doves, White-tipped doves and Scaly-naped Pigeons by focusing on evaluating and improving knowledge of monitoring efforts, vital rates (survival, reproduction and recruitment) and habitat needs during the annual life cycle of these birds. The Strategy is intended to increase financial support for management and research during the next 5–10 years with thoughtful and deliberate planning based on good scientific principles.

 Band-tailed Pigeon Population Status (2MB)

This report is produced annually. The report summarizes information on the abundance and harvest of Band-tailed Pigeons in the United States and British Columbia.

Monitoring Programs for the Band-tailed Pigeon

•  Breeding Bird Survey
• Mineral Site Survey
o The Mineral Site Survey became operational in 2004 and is used to monitor the Pacific Coast Population. The survey is a coordinated effort among state and provincial wildlife agencies in California, Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia, and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and Canadian Wildlife Service. The Mineral Site Survey involves a visual count of band-tailed pigeons at select mineral sites throughout the population's range.
• Harvest Information Survey
• Parts (Wing) Collection Survey

Final Reports for Projects Funded through the Webless Migratory Game Bird Program (2012 - present)

Last Updated: November 18, 2016