Mourning Doves.......

I love doves…always have….my back yard has always been graced with a number of pairs of mourning doves but this past week I have noticed that there is a veritable flock of mourning doves….I find it interesting that they seem to have multiplied just recently….synchronicity at work?? Who knows really but I like to think it is!!

Mourning Doves (Zenaida macroura) are one of the most widely distributed and abundant birds in North America……..

They have a small head and pointed tail, presenting a streamlined appearance. Flight is direct and rapid. The wing beat usually produces a characteristic whistling noise, especially when doves are flushed.

One of my backyard feeders
Mourning doves make a soft cooing sound that some people confuse with the hooting of an owl. This is so true….they do sound like owls. I love hearing the haunting sounds of the Mourning Doves. The mourning dove probably gets its name from its haunting "hoo, hoo, hoo" call.

My backyard

Predators include: birds, snakes, squirrels, cats and hunters….I never really thought of squirrels being a predator for birds but just today….with my flock of them in the back yard….I did see a squirrel chasing one of the doves.......

And then of course there's Maggie....fierce and bold lil Maggie.....who thinks that just maybe one of these days she will be able to catch one of these birds......
She just about slays me when she goes shooting out the back door hell bent for leather on her tiny lil legs trying and catch one of them.....
It's just about as cute as her attempts at trying to catch the water from the waves lapping up on shore as she is doing here.