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Mourning Dove

Species Name: Zenaida macroura

  • Visit the Dove Hunting in PA  story map for a brief overview of species, habitat, and hunting the Mourning Dove in Pennsylvania.

Managed Dove Fields

 

Accordion



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Related Links

Read this short blog post to learn what a decade of banding doves has taught us. 

Download mourning dove nest basket plans.

Find Mourning Dove Banding reports under Wildlife Management Annual Reports by filtering by Game Bird and scrolling to reports numbered 55001.

Wildlife Health

Trichomoniasis is considered the most important disease of mourning doves in North America.

Upland gamebirds (e.g., mourning doves, wild turkeys), songbirds, and raptors can experience varying degrees of mortality due to avian pox.

Mourning doves, like many species of wild birds, intentionally swallow grit (e.g., small stones, sand) to help grind up larger food particles in their gizzards and aid in digestion. Spent lead pellets are of similar size to natural grit materials and, if ingested by wild birds, may result in lead poisoning. To protect mourning doves and other wild birds, voluntary use of lead-free shot is strongly encouraged when hunting mourning doves.