Found in North and Central America
Hear Their Song
Sigh. Do you hear that? It’s the melancholy song of the Mourning Dove. To human ears, their low, slow calls (coo-OO-oo) sound like a lament, a universal sound of loss or regret.
These doves may be a common sight (there are 350 million of them in the U.S.), but their genteel looks and emotive coos have made them beloved to many. They can both be seen on high — perched on fences, church towers, and telephone poles — as well as down low, foraging on the ground for dropped seeds.
Mourning Doves can store up to 17,000 seeds in their crop, or an expansion of the esophagus; they eat up to 20 percent of their body weight every day! You can put up a nesting cone to attract mating pairs, or scatter millet seeds in your yard.
Fun fact: When Mourning Doves take off for flight, their wings make a sharp whistling sound.
