Zenaida macroura -- mourning dove, Walden Ponds Wildlife Habitat, Boulder, Colorado, spring, 2015. I have not seen nor heard a mourning dove within the city limits since the collared doves took over.
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5 Comments
Leigh Stotland · 1 July 2015
I live in Spanish Springs, Nevada
The first time I saw a collared dove at my backyard feeder was last year. There was just one individual and I always saw that bird with a group of mourning doves. This summer there are a pair of collared doves that come to the feeder area. These birds do not seem to be attached to any of the mourning doves. I have not noticed a decrease in the number of mourning doves at the feeders.
There are also mourning doves that try to nest in various places on the school playground where I work. So far I haven't noticed collared doves at the school.
I emailed the local Audubon group to see if anyone in the area has noticed decreases in mourning dove populations, but no one has gotten back to me.
Matt Young · 1 July 2015
Denver Post has an article here. I do not think their sound is especially grating, though they are more persistent and possibly louder than mourning doves. And I certainly do not agree that the mourning doves are the "good" doves. The Post reports that Cooper's hawks are appearing in subdivisions, so we may see a decline in population.
At any rate, I live in the residential part of Boulder, single-family houses on smallish lots. I used to hear a mourning dove occasionally and less often see one. Now I hear collared doves all the time and often see them. It may be sampling error, but I have never seen or heard a collared dove in the open-space areas (mostly Walden Ponds and Bobolink Trail), whereas I occasionally hear or see a mourning dove there.
I do not know whether this observation is significant or generalizable, or not.
Leigh Stotland · 3 July 2015
Kathy Oakes from the Lahontan Audubon Society wrote back to me. She said a search of the postings on the NVBirds Listserv (http://list.audubon.org/scripts/wa-AUDUBON.exe?A0=NVBIRDS) show that the first mention of the species in the Reno area was in 2003. She said that the collared doves do not seem to be taking over wild area habitats. They prefer to live around humans and are common at feeders. According to Ms. Oates, "For example, although I have seen ECDs at the visitor center and campgrounds in Death Valley they are absent from the surrounding Mohave desert wild areas. That is also the case throughout Nevada. I have never seen any ECD's in wild Nevada habitats" I think the Denver Post article also said that the collared doves do not seem to be displacing the mourning doves. This pattern seems to be typical throughout the US.
Ms. Oakes observations seem to agree with your own.
I read the Denver Post article. I do not find collared doves annoying. Neither would I describe them as bullies. I see very little aggressive behavior, either when the birds are paired or when individuals travel as part of a mourning dove flock. Thanks for raising the questions. I will have to pay more attention to the doves that come to the feeder. I'll be interested in what changes I might see in behavior or in numbers of birds and the ratio of collared to mourning doves.
David @ nerosuncoast · 10 July 2015
Agreed. I've never seen this bird before in Colorado. How many individual did you see?
Leigh Stotland said:
I live in Spanish Springs, Nevada
The first time I saw a collared dove at my backyard feeder was last year. There was just one individual and I always saw that bird with a group of mourning doves. This summer there are a pair of collared doves that come to the feeder area. These birds do not seem to be attached to any of the mourning doves. I have not noticed a decrease in the number of mourning doves at the feeders.
There are also mourning doves that try to nest in various places on the school playground where I work. So far I haven't noticed collared doves at the school.
I emailed the local Audubon group to see if anyone in the area has noticed decreases in mourning dove populations, but no one has gotten back to me.
Matt Young · 10 July 2015
Iâve never seen this bird before in Colorado. How many individual did you see?
The mourning dove? I think I saw only one. I rarely see them but sometimes hear them in the open-space areas. I often see and hear the collared doves within the residential areas.
5 Comments
Leigh Stotland · 1 July 2015
I live in Spanish Springs, Nevada
The first time I saw a collared dove at my backyard feeder was last year. There was just one individual and I always saw that bird with a group of mourning doves. This summer there are a pair of collared doves that come to the feeder area. These birds do not seem to be attached to any of the mourning doves. I have not noticed a decrease in the number of mourning doves at the feeders.
There are also mourning doves that try to nest in various places on the school playground where I work. So far I haven't noticed collared doves at the school.
I emailed the local Audubon group to see if anyone in the area has noticed decreases in mourning dove populations, but no one has gotten back to me.
Matt Young · 1 July 2015
Denver Post has an article here. I do not think their sound is especially grating, though they are more persistent and possibly louder than mourning doves. And I certainly do not agree that the mourning doves are the "good" doves. The Post reports that Cooper's hawks are appearing in subdivisions, so we may see a decline in population.
At any rate, I live in the residential part of Boulder, single-family houses on smallish lots. I used to hear a mourning dove occasionally and less often see one. Now I hear collared doves all the time and often see them. It may be sampling error, but I have never seen or heard a collared dove in the open-space areas (mostly Walden Ponds and Bobolink Trail), whereas I occasionally hear or see a mourning dove there.
I do not know whether this observation is significant or generalizable, or not.
Leigh Stotland · 3 July 2015
Kathy Oakes from the Lahontan Audubon Society wrote back to me. She said a search of the postings on the NVBirds Listserv (http://list.audubon.org/scripts/wa-AUDUBON.exe?A0=NVBIRDS) show that the first mention of the species in the Reno area was in 2003. She said that the collared doves do not seem to be taking over wild area habitats. They prefer to live around humans and are common at feeders. According to Ms. Oates, "For example, although I have seen ECDs at the visitor center and campgrounds in Death Valley they are absent from the surrounding Mohave desert wild areas. That is also the case throughout Nevada. I have never seen any ECD's in wild Nevada habitats" I think the Denver Post article also said that the collared doves do not seem to be displacing the mourning doves. This pattern seems to be typical throughout the US.
Ms. Oakes observations seem to agree with your own.
I read the Denver Post article. I do not find collared doves annoying. Neither would I describe them as bullies. I see very little aggressive behavior, either when the birds are paired or when individuals travel as part of a mourning dove flock. Thanks for raising the questions. I will have to pay more attention to the doves that come to the feeder. I'll be interested in what changes I might see in behavior or in numbers of birds and the ratio of collared to mourning doves.
David @ nerosuncoast · 10 July 2015
Matt Young · 10 July 2015