How to Identify a Mourning Dove

The mourning dove is one of the most common bird species in North America. This bird frequents baths, feeders and trees throughout American cities and suburbs. To help manage nature's food chain, hunters in certain areas have begun to kill the mourning dove to battle overpopulation. You can identify mourning doves by learning the species' identifying characteristics.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

1. Look at the head and chest to determine gender. A male mourning dove will have a blue head and a pink chest, which is designed to attract female doves.
2. Note the tail. The mourning dove's tail is excessively long and comes to a sharp point, as opposed to a flap or dull point.
3. Consider size. Mourning doves reach a maximum length of 12 inches, though most of them are less than 10-inches long.
4. Assess the wing span. Mourning doves have a wingspan of at least 15 inches, and full grown doves have a wingspan of 18 inches. Use known lengths, such as the size of your feeder, to gauge wingspan without scaring the bird away.
5. Listen for the sound of whistling as a mourning dove flies. The shape and size of a dove's wings create a light whistling that is distinctive from wing sounds produced by other birds.
6. Listen for the calls. A mourning dove uses a string of soft cooing sounds to attract other birds and warn of impending danger.
7. Observe the mourning doves' duties to determine gender. The male dove leaves the nest in the morning to gather food, while the female stays behind to care for the babies. Males collect thistles and twigs to build the nest, and then it climbs on top of the female dove. The female supports her mate during the nest-building process, using materials he passes down to her.
8. Count the eggs. Mourning doves lay two eggs with each brood. To protect the offspring, they rarely leave the nest.