Kelly Bostian: Heat may be good for dove population
Dry weather is good weather for doves. The sustained triple-digit heat is a bit of a question mark, but if any bird is well-suited for hot-weather nesting it is the mourning dove with its spindly nests and two-egg clutches.
"Dove numbers, I think, will be above average if not better than that - they thrive on dry weather," said guide Gordon Montgomery, who annually manages more dove fields and hunters than any other in Oklahoma. "I think back to 2006 and we had a statewide burn ban, and that year we had some of the best dove numbers I've seen."
It's early to know for sure, but things are looking good population-wise, said the guide, who starts thinking about the dove season opener before most of us put away our winter socks.
Montgomery said he's seeing male doves displaying, still, for females and that he's seen active nests recently. "I think we're going to see three or four hatches this year easy," he said. "There will be young ones out there barely flying opening day I'm sure."
On the minus side this year is a full-on drought and triple-digit temperatures that have had much more of an impact on the countryside than weather during that parched summer of 2006.
People watching how the dove season will shape up are watching crops and farmers closely and betting on what the weather will do the next four weeks.
Winter wheat fields in Green Country did well this year, and those that will be managed for dove hunting should be in fine shape, Montgomery said. Corn and soybeans are another story.
Farmers are bailing failed cornfields and soybean fields to get at least a little income back out of those failed crops. "Down around Morris they had 400 acres of corn cut and bailed already," Montgomery said.
Soybean fields are going the same direction. While the plants in many soybean fields look full, green and healthy, plants that bloomed during this hot, dry spell have received no moisture to form beans in the seedpods. "They will cut those down to the nubbins and bale it, and come in and no-till drill," he said. "Soybeans make great hay."
Soybeans planted later look less healthy but actually have the best chance to produce beans because they have not yet bloomed. "As long as it rains," Montgomery said.
What this means for doves, and dove hunters, is a bit of a toss-up.
It changes things a lot from years past.
Mourning Dove Eggs - News
Dry weather is good weather for doves. The sustained triple-digit heat is a bit of a question mark, but if any bird is well-suited for hot-weather nesting it is the mourning dove with its spindly nests and two-egg clutches. "Dove numbers, I think,
I have never read of growling as any part of a dove's vocal repertoire. Perhaps I have discovered something new about mourning doves, or maybe my doves are just cranky with me. The annual return of our mourning doves isn't the thrill of swallows
He has been involved with a wide range of issues tied to Michigan, including the November 2006 referendum to restore the state's long-standing ban on mourning dove hunting and the recently announced national accord between the HSUS and the United Egg
of mourning doves, was passed. Further, in 2009, House Bill 5127 established better care standards for farm animals — something that Michigan residents might not have been aware of, even though so many regularly consume meat, dairy and eggs.
SAUNDERSTOWN - The rolling landscape of gardens and lawn that extends behind the home of Tom and Cathie Cote off Mourning Dove Drive was a tangled New England forest - hilly, rocky and nearly impenetrable - when the
Mourning Doves Feel At Home
Mourning Birds Feel At Home
Mama and Daddy Dark Eyes moved into a planter hanging over my balcony. I went to water my plants one evening and a bird startled me as I poured water onto the plant. To my amazement, I found a nest with two tiny white eggs.
It was after dusk so I couldn't see the type of bird except that it was also startled. As it flew away I saw a very long, prominent white tail, enough for me to discover the type of bird nesting on my balcony. I soon found a picture of a Mourning Dove and recognized my bird immediately. Every day the birds sit diligently on the eggs.
Now when I water, I talk to the bird as though they always lived there. Mom or Dad never move when I water the planter with the nest. Our summer temperatures have been averaging 112 degrees and so they probably welcome the cooling of the soil as I water. To my surprise, the flowers in that planter are also thriving.
Two days ago I noticed two little ones. The photos show them shortly after I discovered they had arrived. I suspect they will soon be able to leave their little nursery. I will remember them after they've gone.
Mourning Dove Eggs - Bookshelf
Ecology and management of the mourning dove
Mourning doves produce two eggs per dutch but are capable of incubating artificially ... Right photo (mourning dove egg in a robin's nest) by Ron George ; ...Bulletins
Two eggs with dead embryos of Ring dove (Turtur risorius) substituted for the Mourning Dove eggs; the latter placed in an incubator. May 26. ...Bulletin
Two eggs with dead embryos of Ring dove ( Turtur risorius) substituted for the Mourning Dove eggs; the latter placed in an incubator. May 26. ...North American birds eggs
Mourning Dove. Zenaidura macroura. Range. ... Their nests are made entirely of twigs and rootlets, and eggs may be found ... NEST AND EGGS OF MOURNING DOVE. ...The Auk
The eggs of the Robin and Cuckoo were slightly incubated ; those of the Mourning Dove were fresh. The above was published in the 'Forest and Stream,' Aug. ...Casual Info Directory
Mourning Doves - Diamond Dove Home Page
Mourning doves are one of the most common and perhaps most loved of all the doves found ... WARNING: Possession of mourning dove eggs without a federal permit is ...
Mourning Dove - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For the Native American author of the same name, see Mourning Dove (author) ... Mourning Doves reject slightly under a third of Cowbird eggs in such nests, and ...
birdie
On Monday, February 22, 1999, my mourning dove began hanging out in the same ... of the eggs. " Male and female Mourning Doves share in incubation ...
Mourning Dove
The Mourning Dove is probably one of the most common bird species, ... Mourning Doves usually have 2 to 3 eggs at a time, to be incubated in a period of 14 to ...
Birds, Familiar: Mourning Dove, Life Histories of North ...
The mourning dove must have been one of the first birds that ... Eggs.--The mourning dove lays almost always two eggs, but there are a few records of ...