Contemplating Mourning Doves and Love

[flowerbug]

Well it is spring.

The other day I noticed two mourning doves hanging out and standing on the driveway. They were clearly a pair and were grooming each other and it was very sweet to watch. I wished I'd had my camera with me but didn't want to stop watching.

They're usually around, some times we have a large number of them here until the hawks and eagles come through and knock the population back down again.

They're also all winter residents. We have a lot of cedar trees they can hide in and other pine trees they also seem to like. Their main diet is seeds and I've cut back on a large number of those for them this past few years by clearing out a weedy patch that often had a lot of plantains in there. I'm pretty sure those seeds are a part of their diet. I have no idea if they eat corn or soybeans, but they do eat wheat.

However what I really was interested in and am still not really finding out is how long Mourning Doves have been around. Birds themselves got their start during the dinosaur years over 66 million years ago. I'm not a huge bird history reader as of yet, but was curious to see if I could figure them out better.

Are Mourning Doves recent or ancient or in between? Humans being recent I'm guessing that in some cases it is quite possible that we learned our loving ways by observing nature around us and perhaps admiring the good things we see around us. At least I hope so.

What do you know or think?

 

[Pulsegleaner]

Well, first and foremost, I should point out that a lot of what we THINK are mourning doves are actually Eurasian Collared Doves, which are introduced and much much commoner.

As for their significance, they DO feature quite a lot as a symbol of love and devotion, especially devotion beyond death. The feature in a LOT of Native American legends. That's actually why they are CALLED mourning doves (their call apparently sounds much like an Iroquois chant over the dead.)

There is also the fact that some early Europeans identified the mourning dove as sort of the American version of their native Turtle Dove, and so a lot of the love associations of that got tacked on (actually if you look at Audubon's plates, he refers to the Mourning Dove as the Carolina Turtle Dove.)

 

[meadow]

I don't know squat, but I do think Mourning Doves are beautiful and enjoy seeing them.

I had a close encounter with one last week. One of our sliding patio doors opens beneath a Japanese Maple tree. As I was exiting the house, a Mourning Dove was preparing to land on a branch just a few feet from my face. Not sure which one of us was more startled!

Geese are quite loving too. I enjoy watching the family units out for a stroll and how they interact with one another. Ducks, on the other hand, not so much.

 

[Artichoke Lover]

We have the true mourning doves around here. Year round residents. They aren’t the brightest birds. They are always getting trapped in the chicken pen and then I have to run them out. I actually had to catch one and carry it out this morning.

 

[flowerbug]

Well, first and foremost, I should point out that a lot of what we THINK are mourning doves are actually Eurasian Collared Doves, which are introduced and much much commoner.

i don't think those are what we have here. i'll look again closer to make sure next time i see them.

As for their significance, they DO feature quite a lot as a symbol of love and devotion, especially devotion beyond death. The feature in a LOT of Native American legends. That's actually why they are CALLED mourning doves (their call apparently sounds much like an Iroquois chant over the dead.)

There is also the fact that some early Europeans identified the mourning dove as sort of the American version of their native Turtle Dove, and so a lot of the love associations of that got tacked on (actually if you look at Audubon's plates, he refers to the Mourning Dove as the Carolina Turtle Dove.)

aside from scaring the crap out of us at times they're sweet birdies and i'm always glad to have them around (after my heart calms down from being startled).

 

[flowerbug]

We have the true mourning doves around here. Year round residents. They aren’t the brightest birds. They are always getting trapped in the chicken pen and then I have to run them out. I actually had to catch one and carry it out this morning. View attachment 48296

it knew where the goodies were at.

 

[digitS']

World’s oldest loon pair returns to Michigan for 26th summer

World’s oldest loon pair returns to Michigan for 26th summer

The two loons were seen this week at Seney National Wildlife Refuge.

www.mlive.com

 

[AMKuska]

Well it is spring.

The other day I noticed two mourning doves hanging out and standing on the driveway. They were clearly a pair and were grooming each other and it was very sweet to watch. I wished I'd had my camera with me but didn't want to stop watching.

They're usually around, some times we have a large number of them here until the hawks and eagles come through and knock the population back down again.

They're also all winter residents. We have a lot of cedar trees they can hide in and other pine trees they also seem to like. Their main diet is seeds and I've cut back on a large number of those for them this past few years by clearing out a weedy patch that often had a lot of plantains in there. I'm pretty sure those seeds are a part of their diet. I have no idea if they eat corn or soybeans, but they do eat wheat.

However what I really was interested in and am still not really finding out is how long Mourning Doves have been around. Birds themselves got their start during the dinosaur years over 66 million years ago. I'm not a huge bird history reader as of yet, but was curious to see if I could figure them out better.

Are Mourning Doves recent or ancient or in between? Humans being recent I'm guessing that in some cases it is quite possible that we learned our loving ways by observing nature around us and perhaps admiring the good things we see around us. At least I hope so.

What do you know or think?

I had to look it up. It's not well known. Scientists believe that mourning doves are from south or central american origin: https://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/condor/v102n04/p0864-p0870.pdf

 

[flowerbug]

I had to look it up. It's not well known. Scientists believe that mourning doves are from south or central american origin: https://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/condor/v102n04/p0864-p0870.pdf

thank you! i've not been able to find anything during my casual attempts to find anything that gives me any kind of date or regions.

 

[AMKuska]

I'm glad I could offer some help! I wish there was a clearer answer available but they're not well studied at this time.