There have been lots of mourning dove visits to the feeders this week, so I decided to make them the BPW pick.
Mourning doves are very abundant in my area and are a common site throughout most of the US. Here in the US, they are the number one hunted game bird. According to the Virginia Department of game and Inland Fisheries (VDIGF) there are nearly 30,000 dove hunters that take about 400,000 doves each year in Virginia. It sounds like a lot but several new dove management programs have been initiated in recent years to help refine harvest management strategies:
"Mourning dove populations are monitored through harvest surveys and breeding population surveys. One such survey, the Call Count Survey (CCS), includes more than 1,000 randomly selected survey routes throughout the U.S., and has been conducted each spring for the past 39 years. The information collected from this survey, which includes both the number of doves seen and heard, is used to monitor dove population trends over time."
You can click here to read more.
If you want to attracting mourning doves to your backyard offer them a variety of seed such as corn, sunflower or millet. They are primarily ground feeders but will also feed on a platform type birdfeeder.
Love Mourning Doves. They just seem so elegant, somehow. We have them in my neighborhood but I've never drawn them to my feeders. Thanks for the good look at them.
ReplyDeleteI hardly get any mourning doves in my area. I love the picture of the dove in the bird bath. He looks so happy.
ReplyDeleteHi Friend,Very interesting blog.I visited your site and hope you will do the same.
ReplyDeleteSoftware Helper , business studies , Earn Money ,Net Working ,Computer World ,
Hi Alan, great BPW post! This one of the few species I can count on in my Oklahoma backyard regularly. I love their cooing too.
ReplyDeleteVery nice photos - much nicer to watch them than to shoot them!
ReplyDeleteGreat shots, Alan. We get mourning doves on our backyard fence from time to time in early morning or late evening. I love to listen to them out the kitchen window.
ReplyDeleteWe get lot's of 'em up here too. Easy to overlook a common bird, but every now and again, it's nice to stop and take a second look at the soft, subtle coloring of these very pretty birds!
ReplyDeleteYour Mourning doves are a treat. Doves in general are such pretty birds withoften quire haunting calls.
ReplyDeleteAlan,
ReplyDeleteMourning Doves are pleasant and welcome at my feeders. I've complained about their appetites in the past :o), but I'd rather them outnumber two other species I could do without.
Thanks for the good info on Mourning Doves.
Mary
I love the Doves, and absolutely hate when Dove season rolls around. I have about three pair that visit me daily.
ReplyDeleteThanks for visiting my blog, I enjoyed yours and will be back to visit soon.
Happy Day!
Thanks for stopping by Machelle, & happy New Year to you!
ReplyDelete