Doves (ft. the MYSTERY DOVE SHOW!)

A Mourning dove

Happy Easter everybody! Let's celebrate it with doves! Alleluia!

(Also, I realized I maybe should have waited until Pentecost to post this... oh well.)

 *Squeals* Doves! Are! My! Favorites! (Don't ask why, I can't pin it down.)

Perhaps it is the way they waddle around. Perhaps it is the way the males defend their territories. But, nonetheless, they are still my favorites.

(Some people (AKA my dad) say that they are fat. I argue that blue jays are fatter, which might not be true, but blue jays are bigger than mourning doves anyway, so it might be true. But still, all birds are fat, aren't they?)

A quick look at eBird shows that there are more than 50 different types of doves (not including the Dovekie, which is not a dove at all. 😅). That is way too many to put in a post, so I'll try and explore an extra one, as my repertoire of doves is sadly small. I will pick a mystery dove!

Anyway, let's get on to the doves, enough chitchat! 

(Oh, and also I'm editing all my posts to put in the scientific names, just decided)

Not one of the puffiest I've seen.

~MOURNING DOVE~

Zenaida macroura

Where they are found: The entirety of North America (excluding far north)

Favorite food: Thistle [Nyjer], Cracked corn, safflower seed

Will also eat: anything edible, really

How to identify: large, large wings, very cumbersome, waddle on the ground, heads bobbing. Not exactly hard to distinguish from other birds ;)

So, in mating season, the males get aggressive towards each other. If you like to put up thistle [Nyjer] in the summer, you might get many doves, and along with that, the aggressive behavior of males as well. The male who is in possession of the territory puffs out his neck, and hops madly after the interfering other, sometimes jumping on it. The other dove waddles as fast as possible away, and the revengeful owner chases until the other dove flies off. It's very entertaining to watch.

Also, ALSO! The calls they make!! I wouldn't want to live without them. (And, combined with the song sparrow, they make a very good calling pair.)

Are they fat, or just... fat

~WHITE WINGED DOVE~

Zenaida asiatica

Where to find: Mostly southern US and Mexico

Favorite food: ???

Will also eat: ???

How to identify: looks a little similar to the mourning dove, except the white wing edge, of course, and also they're a bit more maneuverable than the mourning doves. They also have a blue ring around their eyes.

In memorial of my visit to Texas (which is where I am now), I'm putting this species of dove here. (Yes, I have seen a white winged dove before, and they are as cute as the mourning doves.)

See why their wings are so cumbersome?

Now...

Yes, it's time...

for the MYSTERY DOVE SHOW!

*Wild cheering and applause, I hope*

*ahem.*

This is how it works: I will try and find a dove that lives in the US that I have not covered already. Then I will describe it to you, and you must guess! (It's okay if you don't, though.) (If I do not find a US dove I will try to find a dove from the Americas, whether North or South.)

*Drumroll...*

Your first clue: This dove lives in North America and Europe, as well as Asia!

Your second clue: it looks rather like a mourning dove, but it is not!

Your third clue: Usually found near farms and suburbs, and does not like an extensive amount of trees! (well, it doesn't live near me :3 )

Your fourth and last clue: its has a black collar!

Stumped? Or have you got it? (I had not really heard of it. I mean, I had, but it was unconsciously that I heard it.)

After all the scrolling I will reveal the answer!

It is...

~EURASIAN COLLARED DOVE~

Streptopelia decaocto

Once again, thanks for playing in the MYSTERY DOVE SHOW!

Do you think there should be MYSTERY BIRD SHOWS in the future? (Ah, and did you guess correctly? Those were pretty bad clues, sorry!) Are you a fan of doves as well? Please tell me!