Mourning Dove (also known as the Carolina Dove or American Mourning Dove)

The Mourning Dove is a slender-tailed, small-headed dove with a graceful, streamlined body. Known for its soft cooing calls and swift, whistling flight, it is one of the most abundant and familiar birds in North America.

Muted grayish-blue to soft brownish-grey coloration with lighter grayish edges, typical of melanin-based pigmentation in dove body plumage.

Semiplume to plumulaceous structure with a loose, fluffy base and a more tightly interlocked pennaceous tip, lacking a prominent afterfeather.

Soft, silky, and slightly matte in appearance with loose barbs near the base providing insulation.

Soft grayish-blue coloration, delicate rounded shape, fine flexible rachis, and loose basal barbs.

Open country, urban areas, farms, prairies, and light woods, avoiding dense unbroken forests.

Widespread across North America, ranging from southern Canada through the United States and Mexico into Central America.

Important seed disperser and a primary prey species for various raptors and carnivorous mammals.

Rock Pigeon (Columba livia) or Eurasian Collared-Dove (Streptopelia decaocto), but smaller and softer in coloration.

Mourning doves produce 'crop milk', a nutritious secretion from the lining of the parent's crop used to feed their altricial nestlings.

Fair condition with slight fraying at the base and minor wear along the edges, typical of a naturally molted contour feather.