We have flown the air like birds and swum the sea like fishes, but have yet to learn the simple act of walking the earth like brothers.

A Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Quotation

Mourning Dove

The Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura) is a member of the dove family (Columbidae). The bird is also called the American Mourning Dove or Rain Dove, and formerly was known as the Carolina Pigeon or Carolina Turtledove.

Identification Tips:
• Length: 10.5 inches
• Sexes similar
• Medium-sized, somewhat slender dove with very thin neck
• Black bill

Adult:
• Pale buff-brown head, neck, breast, and belly
• Purple and green iridescence on neck
• Small black mark on lower neck
• Medium brown back and upperwings, with large black spots on coverts
• Long tail is pointed at tip
• Dark brown tail with white tips to outer four tail feathers

Similar species:

Have you seen this bird?

Long pointed tail is distinctive for adults, while black spotting on coverts and pale color help distinguish it from White-winged and White-tipped Doves. Juvenile is easily confused with Common Ground-Dove and Inca Dove, but is longer necked, shows a pointed tail with more white at edges and lacks cinnamon in primaries.

The Mourning Dove has a large range of nearly 11 million square kilometers (6.8 million square miles). The species is resident throughout the Greater Antilles, most of Mexico, the Continental United States, and southern Canada.

Mourning Doves are one of the most abundant and widespread of all North American birds. It is also the leading game bird, with up to 70 million birds shot annually in the U.S., both for sport and for meat.