Species-Specific Management (SSM)

Mourning Doves

There are several species of doves found in the United States but only two are widely distributed, the mourning dove (Zenaida macroura) and the rock dove or common pigeon. The habitats of these birds are very different. Rock doves prefer urban settings and mourning doves do better in rural settings, especially near crop lands. These suggestions are for management of mourning doves. (Material for the rock dove is available.)

The mourning dove is found mainly in rural areas and is valued for hunting and as food. It thrives under intensive agriculture where grain crops are grown. Doves can travel long distances in search of food, water, and gravel but they prefer easy access to them. Total annual mortality in states East of the Mississippi River approximates 70 percent. Natural mortality approaches three-fourths of the total annual mortality. Legal hunting removes 15 to 20 percent. Many doves die during severe winters due to heavy snows and extensive, persistent icy ground conditions. Mourning doves require open or semi-open lands. Even-aged silviculture through seed-tree, shelterwood, and clearcutting practices provide excellent opportunities for dove management. The doves are highly mobile so local habitat conditions generally do not limit the total population. Manipulating the the local environment will not change the total population very much. Managing benefits from the dove resource depends primarily upon localizing their movements during the hunting season and adjusting annual hunting regulations.

1. Proximity of different types of vegetation is of key importance. Trees are used for nesting and farmlands are food sources.
2. Providing adequate food reserves for mourning doves is important. If you live near agricultural crops, especially wheat and corn, you have your work cut out for you. Wheat is a preferred food for mourning doves. Corn is a close second. Where these crops are not available, foxtail seeds are heavily relied upon. You should insure that an abundant amount of this weed is in your area. Hemp, sand croton, and nodding spurge are also used as food for mourning doves. Large areas of seed-producing weeds should be encouraged. Practices that eliminate these natural food sources such as herbicide poisoning and indiscriminate mowing should be avoided.
3. Conifer species are usually preferred for nesting. Their stiff branches and needles provide secure nesting platforms. Favorite species (in order of preference) are:

   Blue spruce, red pine, Norway spruce, white pine, Douglas fir, Scotts pine, Red juniper, Austrian pine.

   They can produce wind breaks.

4. Deciduous trees and shrubs that form hedge rows are also often used for nesting sites. Tree species include:

   shingle oak, black cherry, American elm, black walnut, silver maple, red maple box elder.

5. Shrub and vine species for nesting include: osage orange and honeysuckle.
6. The area must be adjacent to a river or supplied by a stream or pond. The water should be close to the feeding site since doves usually drink immediately either before or after they eat. Water is an important consideration for mourning doves. If the area does not have an available water source, one should be provided. Water holes and troughs are a viable option. Existing water supplies should be protected.
7. Doves are highly dependent on cereals and weed seeds from arable farmlands. Preferred cereals include: wheat, barley, and corn. Some mourning doves do not migrate. For those that do not migrate for the winter, you may wish to put up feeders that contain a mix of the seeds mentioned above. Doves cannot dig through snow and ice for food, so feeders protected from these elements will be more effective. If it is economically feasible, these feeders can be used year around.
8. A wide variety of domestic vegetable and fruit scraps may be scattered at the edges of fields to be consumed.
9. Crop rows can be interseeded with grasses and legumes in order to provide abundant food and cover. This practice also increases soil fertility and protects the soil from erosion, both of which have other benefits. A good management practice for mourning doves is the use of wide-row corn crops. This provides benefits to farmers and doves. The rows are interseeded with grasses and legumes which prevent soil erosion and increase fertility at the same time that they provide food and cover for the mourning doves.
10. Increased soil fertility (which can be achieved on farms by the practice described) will lead to increases in snails, insects, and earthworm cocoons, all of which are also used as food sources.
11. Mourning doves seem to have a high requirement for calcium which is largely obtained from snails. Habitat that benefits snails will in turn benefit the doves. Snails require moist areas such as forests with downed, decaying logs. Poisons for pest control should be used with caution. Grit is needed in the doves' diet as a means for them to grind food. If the soil in a given area is not sufficient in providing grit, then grit feeding stations may need to be set up. Calcium is needed in the diet. This can be supplemented by adding oystershell or ground bone to supplies of grit.
12. Preferred nesting areas are stiffed-branch conifers. Nesting success can be further increased by the use of wire mesh cone structures placed in forks of tree limbs in moderate shade. These nest sites should have good visibility and enough clearance to escape predators. These cones are made by cutting a circle from a 12-inch square piece of wire mesh and cutting out a pie shaped piece. The remaining mesh is formed into a cone. All rough edges should be smoothed. The cones should be checked annually and reconditioned so that they meet the above conditions from year to year.
13. The primary predators of mourning doves are Cooper's hawks and sharp-shinned hawks. These can be discouraged by removing possible perches in openings.
14. Regulate hunting practices on the area so that you do not have more old birds than young ones. Doves are aged by looking at their primary converts. The presence of a white or buff tip indicates a juvenile bird. All birds harvested should be inspected to determine the age ratio.
15. Follow the game laws related to harvests and report law violations.
16. In summary, mourning doves should have:
    • A readily available and adequate grain/seed supply
    • Conifer trees for nesting and shelter
    • An adequate water supply
    • Predator control
    • Regulated hunting practices
    • Abundant edge habitat (trees/grass/grain crop fields)

Habitat strategies a. Build watering ponds that are

• numerous but small
• in open areas
• withing 3 km of nesting and roosting sites

• crops of millet, sorghum, corn, wheat
• wild sunflower in pasture lands
• leave a portion of crop for winter feed
• shelterbelts of juniper or pine

• Combine clear cuts with selective cuts to thin forested land
• Leave pines for nesting, roosting
• Clear understory
• Cut in complex mosaic of timber and open areas
• Concentrate timber management activities within 3 km of water and food sources

Population strategies
a. Reduce nest predation by Reducing populations of squirrels and jays
b. Reduce mortality due to disease by Controlling incidence of trichomoniasis
c. Regulate hunting to

• Manage eastern; central and western flyways as separate populations
• Reduce harvest of breeding adults by opening season after Sept. 1 in north, Sept. 15 in south
• Concentrate Sept. hunting in feeding areas where juveniles flock
• Close southern hunting seasons prior to January when pairing, mating begin

People strategies
a. Minimize disturbance in nesting areas
b. Use steel shot in heavily hunted feeding areas
c. Regulate use of pesticide-treated seeds
d. Encourage feeding of grains near northern edge of wintering range

Keep records of birds seen and plot the changes in the population in response to management.

Mourning doves are fairly easy to manage and these few suggestions should help to increase the amount of doves in your area and especially the benefits derived from them.

Contributions of Tammy Wilson (1993) , Tarrell L. Ries (1992), and Steven L. McMullin Department of Fisheries and Wildlife Sciences, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA 24061-0321

Additional notes from Giles' and TVA's WRAP system:

Mourning doves usually inhabit agricultural lands, but they will readily inhabit managed areas. They generally nest in pine and hardwood forests on the edges. To obtain maximum dove populations, especially in heavily hunted areas, extensive areas of corn, millet, sorghum and other grains are needed. Small game-bird annual food plots will aid in attracting and holding birds. Perches or roosts (such as telephone lines) make the birds conspicuous and will tend to hold them in an area even when they are disturbed. Providing roosts and nesting sites (from 1/10 to 1/4 acre of wooded lands for every 100 acres of grain lands), access to water, and protection from over-hunting, nest disturbance, and pesticides are the major ways to increase dove populations.

Possible daily income (dollars) from dove fields of various sizes and shapes
Length-to-width-ratio of the field	Acres	Hunter spacing (feet)
		200	300	400	500
1 to 1
	5	18	12	9	7
	10	26	17	13	10
	15	32	21	16	12
	20	37	24	18	14
	25	41	27	20	16
	30	45	30	22	18
	35	49	32	24	19
	40	52	35	26	21
	45	56	37	28	22
	50	59	39	29	23
5 to 1
	5	tn	tn	tn	tn
	10	35	23	17	14
	15	43	28	21	17
	20	50	33	25	20
	25	56	37	28	22
	30	61	40	30	24
	35	66	44	33	26
	40	70	47	35	28
	45	75	50	37	30
	50	79	52	39	31
10 to 1
	5	tn	tn	tn	tn
	10	tn	tn	tn	tn
	15	56	37	28	22
	20	64	43	32	25
	25	72	48	36	29
	30	79	53	39	31
	35	85	57	42	34
	40	91	61	45	36
	45	97	64	48	38
	50	102	68	51	41
tn = too narrow

To provide dove hunting areas, field widths should be a little over twice the effective range of a shotgun, or about 100 yards, wide. The more edge the better. Hunters can be spaced every 100 yards along the edge of the field. Daily income from dove fields, leased at $2 per day per person, is shown in the following table. Different shapes and sizes of fields can produce different income. With optimum habitat conditions, good advertising, effective management, and efficient law enforcement, dove management can be a profitable component of the rural system or a satisfying hobby.

In some areas, doves may be managed as part of a raptor (hawks and owls) management program.

In an ideal situation, dove fields should not be hunted every day. Intensive hunting will result in the birds avoiding certain fields. Hunts should be limited to three alternating days per week during the seasons.

This Web site is maintained by R. H. Giles, Jr.
Last revision January 17, 2000.