our afternoon

Sitting at the front windows watching birds. In doing this, we have discovered a mourning dove building a nest in our holly tree. Avery and I have watched 'her' hunt for sticks. Then we started reading more about the doves and found out we are watching the male hunt for sticks while the female stays in the tree. All windows open, listening, smelling and watching spring.

Some cool facts we found:
During nest-building, the female stays at the nest and the male collects sticks. He stands on her back to give her the nest material. She takes it and weaves it into the nest.

The Mourning Dove almost invariably lays two eggs. Clutches of three or four are the result of more than one female laying in the nest. A dove may have up to five or six clutches in a single year.


A Mourning Dove pair rarely leaves its eggs unattended. The male usually incubates from midmorning until late afternoon, and the female sits the rest of the day and night.


The Mourning Dove is the most widespread and abundant game bird in North America. Despite being hunted throughout most of its range, it remains among the 10 most abundant birds in the United States.

www.birds.cornell.edu