MOURNING DOVES IN TEXAS

1 G DOVES IN TEXASMOURNINLifeHistory,HabitatNeeds, Parks & Wildlife DepartmentAcknowledgementsThe assistanceofthose whocontributed their time andtalenttothispublication by Roy Tomlinson and DavidDolton(USFWS) a n dCharlesAllen(TPWD).DaleWitt,GaryWaggerm an, andBruceThompson(TPWD)assisted with earlydrafts on thetext. TedClark,JimmyDunks,Ken Gamble, Fielding Harwell, BillBrownlee,JohnRoberson andotherTPWD personnelconductedmuch of theoriginalresearch onwhichthispublication provided by theInformationServicesSection. TheReprographicsSectionprovidedlayout,de sign, andprinting. Unless otherwisenoted,photographs arefromPhotographySection files or by the was funded withsportsmen'sdollars derived from thesaleofhuntinglicenses and thefederalexcise tax onsportingarms andammunition(Federal AidinWildlifeRestoration-Pittman-Roberts onAct) TEXAS Project History .. , National, andStatewide Dove been closelyassociatedwith people inTexas for in cave-likerockshelters in thevicinity ofLake Amistad in Val VerdeCountyindicate stone-age man used MOURNING DOVES fires setby ancienthunters,aswellaslightning-causedf ires, indirectly benefitedmourningdoves bycreatingbaregroundfor feeding sites andstimulating thegrowth ofsunflower,ragweed,croton and grainfarming t o NorthAmerica,madeclearings in theeasternforests, and planted treesonthe prairies,theyinadvertentlycreatednearide alhabitatdiversity for this theshadetrees,wastegrain, weed seeds, bareground, andwaterfoundaround modern farms,ranches, andcitiescontinue t oattractmourningdoves forman'syear-roundenjoyment( ).

2 Diversity created by human activities is often beneficial to MOURNING many humanactivities arebeneficial tomourningdoves,some land-use changes,brushclearing,cleanfarming, fall plowing,largerfields,cropmonocultures,en vironmental pollutants, and crowded feeding sites canhavelong-term,adverseeffectson MOURNING dove populations. Consequently, the purpose ofthis brochure isto acquaintland-1owners,sportsmen,birdenthu siasts, and the generalpublicwithmourningdoves andtheir habitat TEXAS Parks and WildlifeDepartment areavailable ineachregionofthestatet o assistlandowners in preparingmanage-mentplansforindividualtr acts oflandwhich could result MOURNING dove isoneofseven species ofdoves and pigeonsnative the white-wingeddove,white-tippeddove, Inca dove, grounddove, red-billedpigeon andband-tailed pigeonhaveratherrestrictedranges inTexas, the MOURNING dove occurs throughout thestateandisinfactthe mostnumerous and widely-distributedgamebird , migratory species nests throughout t h econtiguous48states,southernCanada, and northernMexico andwinters in the southern United States,Mexico, andCentralAmerica( ).

3 Mourningdove is the most widely distributedgamebird in North fallmourningdove population inTexashas been estimatedat50millionbirds, roughly 10percent of of thedovesthat areharvested inTexaseachfallwerehatched inTexas; theremaining40percent arenorthernbirdsthatmigrateinto or through thestateasshortening day length and changingweatherpatternssignal thecoming of is the number one dove huntingstatein the nation; eachyear morethan400,000 TEXAS huntersofall ages bag5to7millionmourningdoves( ).Althoughmost huntersprefer20or12gauge shotguns with light shot for taking these fastanderraticflyers,longbows andarrowsand falconry arealso per-mitted of the dovehuntingactivity inTexasoccurswithin thefirst two tothreeweeksofthe dove huntersaveragefourdaysofdovehuntingper season with anaverageseasonal bag of15-20mourning ,approximatelyeightshots areexpendedforeachmourning dove hunting is ,malemourning DOVES establishterritories insuitablehabitatand announce their presence to competing males and prospectivemates bycooingtheirmournful four-notecallfromexposedperchessuch as utilitylines or dead useexaggerated,stiff-winged,flapping-gli dingflightto furtheradvertise their territorieswhen moving from one cooingperch t to the territory, both birds assist inbuilding thenest,incubating theeggs,and caring for theyoung.

4 Thenest isaratherflimsystructurecomposed oftwigsand grassthatisoftensothinthat theeggscan be seenthroughthe bottom of thenest. Theclutchusuallyconsists of two eggslaid one dayapart( ).Incubationlastsabout14days. Themale dove usuallytakesnest duties from mid-morninguntilearlyeveningeach daywhile thefemale takes thefirst egg islaid,the first eggusuallydevelopsand hatches about one day before the , one of the nestlings isoftennotice-ablylargerthan from their cropsknownas"pigeonmilk." DOVES usually lay two eggs per inchemicalcomposition t omilkproducedby , thepigeon milk is graduallyreplaced rapidly (Fig. 5)and leave the nest 10to14days afterhatching butcontinue to be fed by themale in thevicinityofthe nest for often beginsrenesting immediately after theyoungleave the maynestsuccessfullyasoftenasfourorfiveti mesinasingle season inwarmsouthernclimates butaverageonlytwoorthreebroodsper season DOVES grow rapidly and leave the nest 10-14days after of allnestingattempts ,rain, and hail destroymany MOURNING dove nests.

5 Snakes,mammals, and avianpredatorsprey onmourning dove eggs,nestlings, and adults. Accidents,environmentalpollutants,parasi tes,diseases,andhuntingalsotakeatoll in thewildgounnoticed byhumans,arelatively-common andhighly-contagiousdiseaseknownastricho moniasiscausesseveralvery-noticeablemour ningdovedieoffs in iscaused byasingle-celledflagellateprotozoanthati nfects themouth,throat andcropofmourningdoves. Thediseasecausesacheesymass t oform in thethroatthatphysicallyblocks thepassage offood or air andcausesstarvation or ,infectedbirdscontinuetopick up fooditems and then spit out ,gamefeeder, orfarmfeedlot, the diseaseisrapidlytransmittedfrom dove t (andraptorsthatprey on DOVES andpigeons)can alsocontract thedisease,but most otherbirdspecies and man are not ,aviraldiseasewhichcausesdark, wart-like growths on the skin, bill, andfeetof DOVES andotherbirds, DeterminationMourningdove populations banding recordsindicateafew individualshaveliveda s long a s10years in thewild,only40percent of all themourningdoveshatched inagivenyear survive until thenextbreeding season.

6 Mostdovehunters recognize verysmalldovesasthisyear'shatch, butmanysportsmen mistake full-sizedjuvenile birds alittle practice anyone can identifyjuveniledovesby theirbuff-tippedbody and wingcovert feathers( ).Thebuff-tippedjuvenilefeathersaregradu allyreplacedbyunmarkedadultplumage( ),but an adult-sizedbirdthathatched in May canstill be identifiedasajuvenile inSeptemberbyasingle buff-tippedprimarycovertfeatherremaining on thewing( ).The approximate age ofjuveniledoves can bedetermined bycheckingtheirprimarywingfeathermolt and comparing this with themolt ofknown-ageddoves (Table I).InSouth TEXAS where the problem oflatenesting and young birdsinthebag would be most acute, the dove season opening datehas traditionallybeendelayed t o Juvenile dovescan be identified bytheir buff-tipped cov-ert feathers. This birdisapproximately32days old(notemoltand replacement ofprimary number 1). doveshave solid, adult-sizeOLDER JUVENILE juvenile dove can stillbe identified asthisyear'shatch by asinglebuff-tippedcovertfeather.

7 This bird is approximately133days old. ageof juveniledoves,check primary flightfeathers for a missing orregrowingfeather and compare with molt of these 10primaries is always molted first and isknown-agedbirds. The inner most of the designated asprimary DOVES is usually north and south with numbers ofdovesthatnest inthe Central UnitedStates andCanada winter northern birdsmerelypass through TEXAS enroutetowinteringgrounds inMexico inTexas may eitherwinter in TEXAS or migrate further south. Surprisingly, dovesthatnest inTexas arelesslikelytowinter in Mexicoand Central Americanthandovesthatnestfurther north, and SouthTexasnestersshowevenlesstendencytom igrate than North TEXAS also indicatejuvenilemourningdovesusuallymigr ateearlierthanadults, and adult females migrate earlier non-residentdoves began toenterTexasbefore September 1, but thebulk of t h emigrantsarrivelater peak bandrecoveryperiod in Mexico is ,National,and Statewide ManagementConsiderationsThe 1916 MigratoryBirdTreatybetween theUnitedStates andGreatBritain(representing Canada) and the accompanying1918 MigratoryBirdTreaty Act gives andWildlifeServiceoverallresponsibility for managingmigratorybirds(includingmourning DOVES ) within the UnitedStates.

8 TheTreatyalsospecifiesthat nostatewithin the UnitedStatesmay have ahuntingseason on discovery ofthreeessentiallydistinctdove populations inthe UnitedStates ledtothe establishment of theWestern,Central, and EasternMourningDoveManagementUnits( ). TEXAS is inthe Central bystateand federalwildlife biologists informulating andadministeringdove hunting regulations inmuchthesameway the WaterfowlFlywaySystem is used for duck inmourningdove breeding populations a r edeterminedeachyearfrom federal biologistsuse three management units for formulatingdove-'hunting regulations. cooingduringearlymornings inlateMay on over1000randomly-selectedsurveyroutes;13 3ofthese routes are located onalightly-traveledsecondaryroad and eachstop,atrainedobservergetsout of the vehicle andrecords the number ofdovesheardcallingduringathree-minutein terval. Thenumber ofdoves observed along the 20-milerouteis alsorecorded( ).

9 Although thenumber of dovesheardonasingleroute can behighlyvariable from year to year due t olocalchanges infoodavailability orotherconditions,annualchanges in the combinedtotalnumberofcalls heard on allrouteswithinarelatively-largeareasuch asan ecologicalregion, a state,oramanagement unit accurately reflect dovepopulation trends , the annual call-countsurvey has shownthatmourningdoves a r emost numerous during thebreeding season inthe RollingPlains,Cross Timbers,Post OakSavannah, and SouthTexasPlains EcologicalRegions( ).Fallroadsidesurveysconductedperiodical ly inTexasindicatemourning DOVES can be found throughout the statein late August with perhaps thegreatestnumbers occurring fluctuations in dove populations are determined by the number of DOVES heard and seen during late May on standardized 20-mile survey recent years, MOURNING dove breeding populations have been highest in Texasin the Timbers,PostOakSavannah, andSouthTexas , by mid-Octobermostmourningdoveshaveleftthe northernpartoftheState andconcentrated inCentral andSouthTexaswhere sub-stantialnumbersspend theannualdovesurveys is reviewed on t h estate,managementunit, and nationallevels, andframeworksfordovehuntingregulationsar eultimately developed andWildlifeServiceaftercarefulconsiderat ionofallavailable information.

10 Theseframeworksprovide hunting opportunitiesconsistent with dovemigration andavailability andmay include hunting TexasParks andWildlifeDepartmentthenestablish hunting regulationswithinthe available evidence,biologistshaveconcludedthatlega lsporthuntingreplaces approximately one-fourth of thenaturalmortalitythatoccurseachyear but does not add additionalmortality to themourningdovepopulation. Inaddition, nation-wide surveys haveshownthere is nosignificantdifference inmourningdove breeding densities in hunted and ,food,water, andcover areessentialfor MOURNING quail andcottontailrabbitsspendtheirentirelive s within amile orsoof theirbirthplace,mourningdoves a r estrong,swift flyers capableofcrossing theContinentduringmigration and traveling many miles during t h enesting season whentheyaremost sedentary, mourningdovesoften travel fivemilesforfoodand water. Consequently, all of thehabitat requirements formourningdoves do notnecessarilyhavetoappear on thesamefarm orranch, butmourningdoveswill bemorenumerous onlandwhereallhabitatneeds a r the locallevel,sportsmen and landownersshouldconsiderhabitatimproveme nt, disease control, and evenreduction ofhuntingintensitywhentryingtoattractand maintain large seed particularlyimportant todoves in Texasinclude sunflower, croton(alsoknownasdoveweed,goatweed, orteaweed), rag-weed and pigweed (Fig.)