The Mourning Dove (Turtle Dove)
Cites:
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/mourning_dove/lifehistory
http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/studying/understanding/clutch/document_view
http://birding.about.com/od/birdingglossary/g/glossbrood.htm
http://www.all-birds.com/Mourning-Dove.htm
http://www.nhptv.org/wild/mourningdove.asp
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mourning_dove
http://www.fcps.edu/islandcreekes/ecology/mourning_dove.htm
Definitions:
Clutch- “total number of eggs laid in one nesting attempt”
Brood- “a set of young birds that are hatched at the same time from the same parents.”; a round of
breeding
Habitat: Open Woodland
Food: 99% seeds, occasionally a snail or small insect, swallows small gravel to aid digestion of seeds
“At bird feeders, mourning doves are attracted to one of the largest ranges of
seed types of any North American bird, with a preference for canola,
corn, millet, safflower, and sunflower seeds. Mourning doves do not dig or scratch for
seeds, instead eating what is readily visible.”
Nesting Area: Trees (dense areas of evergreens, orchard trees, mesquites, cottonwoods, or vine. In the
west there is nesting on the ground quite commonly. Will nest around people; “gutters, eaves, or
abandoned equipment.”)
Nest Description
“A flimsy assembly of pine needles, twigs, and grass stems, unlined and with little insulation
for the young. Over 2 to 4 days, the male carries twigs to the female, passing them to her while
standing on her back; the female weaves them into a nest about 8 inches across. Mourning Doves
sometimes reuse their own or other species’ nests.”
Nesting Facts
Clutch Size
2 eggs
Number of Broods
1-6 broods
Egg Length
1–1.2 in
2.6–3 cm
Egg Width
0.8–0.9 in
2.1–2.3 cm
Incubation Period
14 days
Nestling Period
12–15 days
Egg Description
Unmarked, white.
Condition at Hatching
Helpless, eyes closed, sparsely covered in cream-colored down, unable to hold up head, dependent on
adults for warmth.
“Both parents feed the chicks, orsquabs, "pigeon milk." Pigeon milk is a a mixture of
water, fat, minerals, and protein that the male and female mourning dove produce in
theircrop. Their crop is a sac at the bottom of their esophagus. Pigeon milk is also
called crop milk.”
Behavior: Ground Forager
Of Least Concern on the Conservation list: hunted for sport and meat and still maintains high population
Measurements
Male
Length
9.1–13.4 in
23–34 cm
Wingspan
17.7 in
45 cm
Weight
3.4–6 oz
96–170 g
Female
Wingspan
17.7 in
45 cm
Weight
3–5.5 oz
86–156 g
Migration:
“In late fall mourning doves gather in large flocks across nearly all of the United
States, and southern Canada. Many, but not all northern mourning doves migrate south in
winter. They can be found in grasslands, farmlands, open woods, and roadsides. They are
equally at home in backyards with evergreens, fruit trees, and suburban gardens. In fact
they are at home in virtually any habitat. When you hear talk of a bird for all seasons this
is it.”
While foraging the ground for seeds they do not instantly eat the seeds they are gathering,
rather they will fill up a part of their esophagus that is enlarged for this purpose, called the crop, and
then digest their meal later in a safer place. They eat “roughly 12 to 20 percent of their body weight per
day.”
“...is the most widespread and abundant game bird in North America.”
“…hunters harvest more than 20 million [a year], but… [the] U.S. population [is] estimated at 350
million.”
Predators:
“Predators of Mourning Doves include Raccoon,hawks, owls, Blue
Jay, squirrels, snakes, cats, dogs, and humans. Mourning Doves help plants spread by
eating fruits or seeds and then pooping them out in new locations.”
Phase Two Research of Symbolism:

Death and mourning- (mourning dove) because of their melancholy cooing sound
http://www.brighthubeducation.com/homework-help-literature/69722-mourning-dove-symbolism/
3 Key Representations
Among all the birds, the mourning dove is among the most celebrated bird – gracing sacred scripture (The Holy Bible
under the Christian Faith) and appearing as a recurring icon in our lives. What does this bird symbolize? Below are
the traditional and primary concepts it epitomizes:

A symbol of the Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit, one of the figures of the Holy Trinity (The Christian Doctrine advancing the belief that
God exists in three persons: Father, Son and Spirit) is depicted as a dove in the baptism of Jesus.
According to the Bible, when Jesus emerged from the water, a dove from heaven descended upon him.
Baptism is a Christian Sacrament of spiritual rebirth by which we our “cleansed” of our “original sin,”
and the Holy Spirit places us in permanent union in Christ, and makes us a formal member of the
Christian Community.

A symbol of Hope
In the Noah’s Ark story, God decided to create a big flood to wipe out all the people on earth, except for Noah and his
family. After forty days and forty nights, Noah released a raven to look for dry land. When the raven returned without
success, a dove was then released. The dove, thereafter, flew back triumphantly with an olive leaf. Noah was
pleased. It brought reassurance that trees were growing on dry land – a certain sign of life! The dove stood, therefore
for new beginnings, great expectations and deliverance.
 A symbol of Peace
Although it is a white dove that typically represents peace and safety, mourning doves may also represent the same.
The states of Wisconsin and Michigan regard the mourning dove as their official state symbol of peace. Pablo
Picasso, the famous Spanish artist, when commissioned to design the logo for the World Peace Congress in 1949,
drew a dove entitled “Dove of Peace-Blue.” It is because of their simple and maternal nature that doves have become
a symbol of solidarity and concord among nations.
http://www.native-languages.org/legends-dove.htm
“Doves and pigeons play a variety of different roles in Native American mythology.
The Blackfoot tribe associated the dove with protection and safe return from battle,
and dove feathers were often carried by war leaders as talismans to help them bring
their men back safely. In some Eastern Algonquian tribes, turtledoves were
associated with the spirit world, and heard at certain times, their cries could be
omens of death. To some California Indian tribes, doves represent foolishness and
naivete. The Cherokee associate mourning doves with acorns, and for a whimsical
reason: the mourning dove's cooing cry sounds like the Cherokee word for
"acorn," gule (pronounced similar to gool.) The Aztecs and other Mexican Indian
tribes saw the dove as a symbol of love, associated with the goddess Xochiquetzal
and often depicted on wedding ornaments.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mourning_Dove_(author)
There was a Native American author named Mourning Dove (or Christal Quintasket)
who wrote Cogwewa the Half-Blood: A Description of the Great Montana Cattle
Range in 1927 “one of the first to be written by a Native American woman and to
feature a female protagonist”
She also wrote Coyote Stories in 1933 “a collection of what she called Native
American Folklore”
“Early in her life, Quintasket was forced to give up her language while attending the
Sacred Heart School at the Goodwin Mission in Ward, near Kettle Falls, Washington.
She forgot the meaning of her native name.[6] She thought it meant Mourning
Dove.[2]
But she later said, “the whiteman must have invented the name for it,” after realizing
that her people did not give women animal or bird names.[2] She also realized that
she at first spelled it incorrectly in English, believing it was Morning Dove. After
seeing a labeled mourning dove in a museum, she realized the error and changed it
to 'Mourning Dove.[2][7]”
Music

http://www.metrolyrics.com/mourning-doves-lyrics-mikky-ekko.html
Mikky Ekko has a song titled “Mourning Doves”, track #7 on their album Time
“mourning doves, meet me in the morning, Love, what if I, what if I die before you wake?
“so in the morning, Love, We can be together like mourning doves.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vyPRlGie5Ow

https://www.facebook.com/kingsfoil/posts/10151565155485821
Kingsfoil has a song, “Morning Dove”
“Good morning dov, I’ve been waiting for you, to sing my love to sleep with the moon, Ill sing
you goodnight, I’ll sing you goodnight, with the morning dove”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DeaWVWQsGB0

http://www.lyriczz.com/lyrics/canton-spirituals/109754-morning-dove/
The Canton Spirituals also have a song Morning dove
“But if I had wings, ooh like a morning dove, do y’all know I’d fly away, all of my trouble would
be all over with, and I would just be at rest”
“If I had just had me wings like a morning dove, I’d just spread my wings, fly away, I’d just fly
away, fly away, fly away”mou
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PKdITdzbE0Y

http://www.mourningdovemusic.com/
There is a band called Mourning Dove; Lisa Stubbs and Niel Brooks
Branding

Dove soap http://www.answers.com/Q/Where_did_dove_soap_get_their_name_from
“Dove soap got it's name from a Dutch factory. Dove soap was launched in the US in 1957,
years after Unilever acquired the soap factory De Duif (Dutch: The Dove) in The Netherlands, from
which the English brand name Dove is derived”

Dove Chocolate http://www.dovechocolate.com/aboutdove
“Searching for a soothing moniker, Leo Stefanos named his family-oriented candy shop Dove for
its “peaceful” quality.”
Presentation on Research: Number Two:
 Symbolism
o Mourning-Represent death
o Holy Spirit- depicted as a dove in the baptism of Jesus. According to the
Bible, when Jesus emerged from the water, a dove from heaven
descended upon him.
o Hope- Noah’s Arc, when the dove was released and flew back
triumphantly with an olive leaf. Noah was pleased. It brought
reassurance that trees were growing on dry land – a certain sign of life!
The dove stood, therefore for new beginnings, great expectations and
deliverance.
o Peace- white dove that typically represents peace and safety, mourning
doves may also represent the same. The states of Wisconsin and
Michigan regard the mourning dove as their official state symbol of
peace
o Acorns- The Cherokee associate mourning doves with acorns, and for a
whimsical reason: the mourning dove's cooing cry sounds like the
Cherokee word for "acorn,"
o Love- The Aztecs and other Mexican Indian tribes saw the dove as a
symbol of love, associated with the goddess Xochiquetzal and often
depicted on wedding ornaments.
 Music
o Mikky Ekko- Mourning Doves (symbolism of love)
 “mourning dove, meet me in the morning, love, what if I, what if I
die before you wake?”
 “so in the morning, love, we can be together like mourning
doves.”
o Kingsfoil- Morning Dove (spelled incorrectly, referencing the bird’s
song)
 “Good morning dove, I’ve been waiting for you, to sing my love
to sleep with the moon, Ill sing you goodnight, I’ll sing you
goodnight, with the morning dove”
o The Canton Spirituals-Morning Dove (spelled incorrectly, religious
symbolism)
 “But if I had wings, ooh like a morning dove, do y’all know I’d fly
away, all of my trouble would be all over with, and I would just
be at rest”

“If I had just had me wings like a morning dove, I’d just
spread my wings, fly away, I’d just fly away, fly away, fly away”
o The band Mourning Dove: Lisa Stubbs and Niel Brooks’
 People
o Mourning Dove (Christal Quintasket)
o Was forced to give up her language while attending the Sacred Heart
School at the Goodwin Mission in Ward, near Kettle Falls, Washington.
She forgot the meaning of her native name.[6] She thought it meant
Mourning Dove, but later on she realized that couldn’t be right because
her people did not give animal or bird names to females. Also she
originally spelled it wrong but realized and fixed her mistake once
seeing the correct spelling in a museum.
 Wrote Cogwewa the Half-Blood: A Description of the Great
Montana Cattle Range in 1927 “one of the first to be written by a
Native American woman and to feature a female protagonist.
 She also wrote Coyote Stories in 1933 “a collection of what she
called Native American Folklore”
 Branding
o Dove Soap-“Dove soap got it's name from a Dutch factory. Dove soap
was launched in the US in 1957, years after Unilever acquired the soap
factory De Duif (Dutch: The Dove) in The Netherlands, from which the
English brand name Dove is derived”
o Dove Chocolate-“Searching for a soothing moniker, Leo Stefanos named
his family-oriented candy shop Dove for its “peaceful” quality.”