Mourning Doves – Hunted by Some, Revered by Some and Overlooked by Many. They are sort of ubiquitous and so are sometimes also overlooked for other flashier or migrating birds at the feeder. Mine typically feed on the ground, but occasionally come onto our large platform.
They never feed at any of the other feeders. They do like our new larger feeder though. Of course, doves are best known for their coo-ing and the whistle sound their wings can make when they take off signaling danger to everyone around them.
This is how we are used to seeing doves, feeding on the ground, doing their marching maneuver to clear others out. Video starts at 2:24 when the doves enter, but you can watch the whole thing if you want to see more ground feeder action.
Here you can see them on the roof of our red shed. This was a pair that did the pair bonding behaviors you might see like preening and cuddling necks before mating.
We did capture a couple videos of them on our larger platform. Here’s a compilation of the doves on the feeder platform and you can hear some of their coo-ing in the backgound.
