This is the
most common and widely occurring game bird
in Arizona, and the dove's trim, streamlined
body, accentuated by its tiny head and sharply
tapered tail is familiar to even the most
casual observer of birds. This dove can also
be differentiated from its white-winged cousin
by its overall brown color, a lack of white
on all but the outer tail feathers, the presence
of black spots on the upper wing surfaces,
and the distinctive rattling whistle that
is emitted by the bird's wing feathers when
it takes flight. The more richly colored
adult males can usually be distinguished
at all times of the year from the browner
females by their pinkish rose breasts, flecks
of metallic green and other iridescence on
the napes of their necks, and their slate
blue crowns. Adult males weigh about 4.3
ounces, females about 4 ounces, with an occasional
male weighing up to 6 ounces. Juvenile birds
can be identified up to 4 or 5 months of
age by the white tipping on the margins of
their wing feathers.
Natural History
Mourning doves occur from the lowest elevations along the Colorado River
upward through forests of ponderosa pines to 8,500 feet. Their staple foods
throughout the year are primarily small seeds and cultivated grains. Although
some doves can be found nesting on the ground in open prairies, the best
nesting habitats are brushlands and woodlands within the Sonoran Desert.
Here, the woeful call of breeding males can be heard as early as February,
and pairs have been known to attempt as many as seven nestings in a single
season. Productivity may therefore be high even though the usual clutch
size is only two eggs. Incubation takes only about 15 days, and is accomplished
by both parents, as is the brooding and feeding of the nearly naked squabs.
The young doves are fed regurgitated "pigeon milk" by both parents, and
they grow and develop rapidly. Fledglings leave the nest only 12 to 14
days after hatching. Even in southern Arizona, nesting is essentially over
by mid-August, and some of the early-hatched juveniles have already migrated
by late July. By the first week of September, the migration of most nesting
populations is usually underway, the juveniles typically leaving before
the adults.
Hunting and Trapping
History
Prior to statehood this species was hunted primarily in conjunction with
white-winged dove, and spring and summer shooting over grain fields was
a common occurrence. In 1929, however, state and federal regulations curtailed
the mourning dove season in Arizona to between September 1 and December
15, and established a 20-bird bag limit. As with the white-winged dove,
the glory days of mourning dove shooting were in the 1960s and 1970s, when
more than 100,000 hunters reported harvesting up to 2.5 million mourning
doves a year. Although still ranked as one of Arizona's two most important
game birds, mourning dove hunting has since fallen off due to urban expansion,
changing farm practices, and more restrictive season arrangements. Questionnaire
surveys indicate that during the past 10 years, an average of from 45,000
to 60,000 hunters bagged from 1 million to 1.3 million doves each year.
Habitat