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Robin
& Phoebe Platform |
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Mourning
Dove
(Turtle Dove, Carolina Dove)
Order: Columbiformes
Family: Columbidae
Genus: Zenaidura
Species: macroura
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La. columba pigeon, dove
La. forma form, shape, kind
La. Zenaida for Zenaide
Laetitia Julie Princess
Bonaparte, wife of French
ornithologist Pricne
Charles
Bonaparte
Gr. makros long
Gr. oura tail
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About twelve inches long. Grayish bluish brown upper parts
with irregular black wing spots. |
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Black spot on the cheek and a long narrow tail. Light
creamy gray underside. Smaller than their pigeon cousins, they look
somewhat distorted with their proportionately small head that bobs when
walking. Abundant, numbering in the hundreds
of millions, inhabiting woodlands, groves, open areas, farms, towns and
cities in North America from southern Canada, throughout the States,
Central America to Panama and the Caribbean.
Makes nests out of flimsy piles of loose sticks on horizontal tree
branches, stumps, bushes, rocks, on the ground, on building ledges and in
platform style nest boxes.
Lays two white eggs (rarely more), which hatch after about two weeks
incubation and young leave the nest in about another two weeks. Regularly
raise a second brood and sometimes as many as four in a season.
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Pairs mate for life and remain solitary, mostly keeping to themselves and their
immediate families during breeding and rearing seasons until the more northern
located doves gather into small flocks before migrating.
Funky walkers, their heads bob as they forage on the ground for grass seeds and
grain. Flocks frequents roadways, city streets and yards seaching for gravel.
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Louis Agassiz Fuertes, Fifty Common
Birds of Farm and Orchard, 1913
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They sing the slow melancholy series of five whoos that give
them their name. Their wings emit a rhythmic whistling in swift flight as fast
as 35 miles per hour. If Mourning Doves can be attracted to a platform, they
prefer the wide angle of view from an open nesting platform mounted on a wall.
They frequently live near people and are candidates for platforms located for
great views of brood rearing.
The
platform for Mourning Doves and Robins has an 8" by 8" base, approximately a
8" ceiling, an open front and partially open sides. The gable roof provides
extra head room for doves, as they are larger than the other platform nesters.
Mount this platform on the side of a garage or shed over looking both open
spaces and foliage in your back yard from seven to fourteen feet high. Carefully
select a location that provides a balance of protection from predators,
elements, access, visibility, and varying sunlight.
Make sure objects that cats and squirrels can climb do not provide access to
the nest. The idea is to simulate a ledge on the face of a cliff. They like to
survey a wide berth from their roost.
You are more likely to attract a pair of Robins than
Doves, but in some circumstances, in just the right spot, Doves will nest on
platforms. Attract nesting Mourning Doves to a tree by forming an 8" diameter
cup from hardware cloth (being careful to bend the end wires back on the
underside) and nailing in the fork of tree branches.
Robins,
Phoebes,
Blue Jays,
Barn Swallows and
Song Sparrows may use
this nesting platform.
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