Number 12

HABITAT REQUIREMENTS
Mourning doves are the most
abundant game bird in the
Southeast. Requiring open or semiopen lands, doves are primarily
farm game birds that thrive where
grain crops are grown. Doves can
travel considerable distances in
search of food, water, and gravel,
but prefer easy access to them.
Because the dove is a migratory
species, local habitat conditions
generally do not limit the
population, nor will manipulation of
the
environment
increase
populations.
Food
A dove's diet consists almost
entirely of seeds from cultivated
fields and weeds along fence rows.

Key Foods

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Department of Agriculture,
and local governments

Corn
Wheat
Rye
Pine Seed
Proso Millet
Grain Sorghum
Sudan Grass
Sunflower
Croton
Wild Millets
Crab Grass
Crowfoot
Sedges
Poke Weed
Wild Peas
Johnson Grass
Evening Browntop
Primrose Millet

Doves generally do not feed in areas

containing heavy, densely-matted
vegetation. Bare ground on which
seeds are available is preferred.
Care should be taken when planting
food for doves near areas where
doves are hunted.
Federal
regulations concerning the baiting of
migratory birds prohibit the shooting
of doves where grains, salt, or other
foods are placed (i.e. carried to an
area, not grown) for the purpose of
attracting birds. Any grain or grain
residues resulting from normal
agricultural practices or wildlife food
plots may be hunted over. It is
recommended that State and/or
Federal wildlife officers be consulted
concerning plans for dove food
production and hunting.
Cover
Nesting habitat is not usually a
limiting factor for doves. Doves
typically nest in trees along the
edges of fields, pastures, or
clearings and are seldom found in
densely wooded areas. Nests are
usually 10 to 30 feet above the
ground and often found in red cedar and
shortleaf and loblolly pines.

North Carolina
Cooperative Extension Service
North Carolina State University
College of Agriculture & Life Sciences
College of Forest Resources

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Water
Water is an important requirement for doves.
Watering sources are used more frequently if
bare ground is found adjacent to a portion of
the water's edge.
Migration
Migratory doves over-winter in the Southeast
and the greatest dove concentrations in North
Carolina are found in the fall and winter.
Spring migration begins about February,
depending on cold weather and snow. Not all
doves are migratory, and birds resident to a
local area are the first to breed in the spring.
Doves reproduce at high rates, but are shortlived and generally survive less than one
year. Those surviving fall migration tend to
over-winter in the same area each year and
remain longest in the best habitat. Wintering
doves prefer river and creek bottoms near
agricultural fields that produced corn or grains
the previous summer.

Tips for Improving Mourning

Dove Habitat
Regeneration:
Use seed tree, shelterwood, or clearcut
methods, which are all compatible with dove
management

Schedule site preparation activities prior to

mid-June to produce herbaceous seeds by
autumn

Intermediate Treatments:
Thin early and frequently in pine stands to
stimulate herbaceous growth in the
understory

Burn pine stands frequently (2 to 3 years) to

retard woody undergrowth and weeds

Schedule burns in winter months to improve

herbaceous seed growth

Direct Improvements:
Leave agricultural fields untilled after
harvest and leave small areas unharvested

Plant dove foods immediately following site

preparation activities

Plant small grains near water and

coniferous cover

Mourning Doves
Nesting Cone

N.C. Cooperative Extension Service

Working With Wildlife # 12 - Mourning Dove

Page 3

Building Dove Nests

Nest Construction

Construct the nesting cone using 1/4 or 1/2

hardware cloth

Place cone 6 to 10 high in a tree with

considerable open space available (good
choices include urban or suburban areas, or in
trees along the edge of woodlands)

Be sure the cone is positioned in a shaded

area, but with room for the dove to move about
without hinderances from numerous twigs or

1. Cut out a 12 square piece

of hardware cloth.

2. Trim to form a circle.

3. Cut out piece of pie as 4. Close pie cut by

overlapping cut edges
shown.
about 3.

limbs

Attach cone to the tree with roofing nails, staples, or

wire (bend edges down slightly after it is in place)

5. Side view of cone

ready for nailing in tree.

6. Options for attaching in tree.

Species That Benefit From Mourning Dove Management

Many species with open field habitat requirements benefit from dove management. Management
plans should also emphasize the species that are associated with early successional habitat favored
by mourning doves:
Open Fields
Yellowrumped Warblers
Goldfinches
Indigo Buntings
Meadowlarks
Red Foxes
Coopers Hawk

Early Regeneration
Rabbits and Deer
Ruffed Grouse
Gray Foxes
Yellow-breasted Chats
Chesnut-sided Warblers
Towhees
Song Sparrows

Park-like Pine Stands

Red-cockaded Woodpecker
Bachmans sparrow
Wild Turkeys

Prepared by:
Mark A. Megalos, Extension Forestry Specialist,
Edwin J. Jones, Department Extension Leader,
Michael S. Mitchell, Graduate Research Assistant

N.C. Cooperative Extension Service

Working With Wildlife # 12 - Mourning Dove

Page 4

Other Wildlife Notes Available:

No. 1 - Endangered Species
No. 14 - Snags and Downed Logs
No. 2 - Eastern Gray Squirrel
No. 15 - Managing Edges for wildlife
No. 3 - White-tailed Deer
No. 16 - Building Songbird Boxes
No. 4 - Songbirds
No. 17 - Woodland Wildlife Nest Boxes
No. 5 - Wild Turkey
No. 18 - Low Cost Habitat Improvements
No. 6 - Wood Duck
No. 19 - Pools for Amphibians
No. 7 - Cottontail Rabbit
No. 20 - Hummingbirds and Butterflies
No. 8 - Bobwhite Quail
No. 21 - Bats
No. 9 - Ruffed Grouse
No. 22 - Owls
No. 10 - Black Bear
No. 23 - Managing Beaver Ponds
No. 11 - Raccoon
No. 24 - Herbaceous Plants for Wildlife
No. 12 - Mourning Dove
No. 25 - SIP Wildlife Opportunities
No. 13 - Wildlife Terms

FOREST STEWARDSHIP
a cooperative program for
improving and maintaining all of the
resources on private forestland

9-94-4M-WWW-12

N.C. Cooperative Extension Service

Working With Wildlife # 12 - Mourning Dove