Anyone know what kind of bird this is?- Louisiana
Anyone know what kind of bird this is?- Louisiana
Mourning Dove
Resin
This is a Mourning Dove and is aptly named as the coo is a mourning sound but on a pleasant note. I live in the Treasure Valley of Idaho not too far from Boise in Zone 6. I put out a bird feeder for Finches and later another type of feeder for birds that cannot feed upside down like a Finch. The bird feed in the second feeder often fell to the ground and a lonely Mourning Dove appeared to feed on the spilled feed. It is a female, and appears to have lost her mate. She is totally comfortable with us watching her, and rarely flies very far away when we go out on our back patio to sit and watch. She has become accustomed to our 3 cats and 2 dogs and keeps an eye on them, but does not take off unless one of the pets gets too close. I enjoy hearing her coo in the morning as our bedroom windows open onto our back patio, so I can hear her both in the morning and late evening. Another "set" has now joined her, and the male made some advances, but she was not too interested. The 3 still return to my bird feeders on a regular basis, but just recently, our weather turned hot (high 80s and low 90s) and I noticed that the Doves have not been around. I haven't checked, but it might be that they have move more northward to nest. Will have to read up on this, but thought you might like to hear about my experience with the Dove.
I don't have nothing against doves but just wish I didn't have so many of them.... they sure seem to take over the feeders and scare off the other birds.
I have to be tolerant of all birds or I get chastised for not being nice to ALL God's creatures by my five year old. That means doves, and yes even grackles and starlings. UUGGHH.
Doves are common here (Tennessee) and we wish we could discourage them from eating all the birdseed we put out for more colorful species. Last summer, a small hawk found it's way to our back fence and there was an immediate lack of doves in the yard! Wish the hawk would come back! He didn't bother the birdseed at all.
Last summer I had a young coopers hawk in the back yard under the deck. I called my hubby to the window to see it and he was actually excited to see a hawk instead of another typical bird. LOL. He got a couple pictures.
We get small flocks of them in the winter but they are very demure and hang out on the ground cleaning up the fall-out from the feeders. But once spring comes, we are usually left with only one pair that hang around pretty much all of the time although I don't feed after Memorial Day. I find them very sweet.....they will allow even the tiniest bird to feed along side of them without a fuss. Maybe the southern ones are a little more gregarious!
But I'm with you on the grackles and starlings, Lynnbird......we get HUGE flocks of them that move through in the Fall and Spring and they are kind of a drag.
I throw cracked corn on the ground for the blue jays and crows and the doves are there with them every day.
It seems the only time the grackles and starlings are here is in the spring and they want the suet. Probably for the babies. Although they do eat the seed too (or should I say throw it on the ground). Now this is the first time in the four years feeding birds that I have seen a blue jay on the suet feeder.
I am near Lake Charles, LA, and my yard is always full of these doves, and they are very fat, too! Luckily I love them and they don't seem to hog the feeders. The Bluejays run them off when they hang around too much!