# Are Mourning Doves Territorial?



## littlemoon

I rescued and hand fed a 5 day old Mourning Dove that fell out of her nest. She, Olivia, has grown beautifully and has been very affectionate. She is now about 7 weeks old. 

I have not caged her, have only kept her in the house at night, let her do what she pleased during the day, which at first was hangin close to me and my mom, and latley has been mostly flying off for awhile, perching in trees in my yard for a few hours, coming down for food and water and flying off again for a few hours at a time. Twice she flew off at dusk but came back in the morning.

Lately a pair of adult doves have been sitting occasionally in the nest she fell out of and have been active in my yard, drinking from the bird bath and pecking for food on the ground, hanging out in the tree. Twice I have seen one of them kind of chase her off.

Yesterday morning, she flew out of the garage and was sitting on the driveway when one of the adults landed a few feet from her but flew off when I made some movement. She (Olivia) flew into the tree in my yard and sat for 2 hours, I have not seen her since.

Are these adult birds running her off? I have seen some mention on the internet of Doves acting territorial, but haven't been able to find much more info than that.

Do any of you know if a pair of Mourning Doves would chase her away? I think they were her parents, not that any of them would know each other, but sheesh, my heart is breaking. One of the parents had eaten the head off of Olivia's sibling and disemboweled it, she fell out of the nest during...

I am in love with this precious bird, she is so sweet and lovey, what do ya'll think? She has been gone for 38 hours. I leave food and water in the same place she is used to, I have called fore her, she knows my voice... Do you think she will come back? Could those adults have run her off for good?

Another question, when do Mourning Doves acquire the adult song? She still wheees and chirps like a baby.

Thanks for anything you can offer. Cool website 

Sincerely,
Robin


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## pigeon-lover0

In my experience they are territorial. There is a nest close to my house and whenever another one lands close they fly down and start running and chases them off. So I say yes.


Many people will agree with me on this one: if you let your pet pigeon/dove outsied to fly on their own and not in a building they can get easily spooked and fly off and get lost. Espicially mourning doves they are jumpy.


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## Jay3

littlemoon said:


> I rescued and hand fed a 5 day old Mourning Dove that fell out of her nest. She, Olivia, has grown beautifully and has been very affectionate. She is now about 7 weeks old.
> 
> I have not caged her, have only kept her in the house at night, let her do what she pleased during the day, which at first was hangin close to me and my mom, and latley has been mostly flying off for awhile, perching in trees in my yard for a few hours, coming down for food and water and flying off again for a few hours at a time. Twice she flew off at dusk but came back in the morning.
> 
> Lately a pair of adult doves have been sitting occasionally in the nest she fell out of and have been active in my yard, drinking from the bird bath and pecking for food on the ground, hanging out in the tree. Twice I have seen one of them kind of chase her off.
> 
> Yesterday morning, she flew out of the garage and was sitting on the driveway when one of the adults landed a few feet from her but flew off when I made some movement. She (Olivia) flew into the tree in my yard and sat for 2 hours, I have not seen her since.
> 
> Are these adult birds running her off? I have seen some mention on the internet of Doves acting territorial, but haven't been able to find much more info than that.
> 
> Do any of you know if a pair of Mourning Doves would chase her away? I think they were her parents, not that any of them would know each other, but sheesh, my heart is breaking. *One of the parents had eaten the head off of Olivia's sibling and disemboweled it, she fell out of the nest during...*
> 
> I am in love with this precious bird, she is so sweet and lovey, what do ya'll think? She has been gone for 38 hours. I leave food and water in the same place she is used to, I have called fore her, she knows my voice... Do you think she will come back? Could those adults have run her off for good?
> 
> Another question, when do Mourning Doves acquire the adult song? She still wheees and chirps like a baby.
> 
> Thanks for anything you can offer. Cool website
> 
> Sincerely,
> Robin



Why do you believe that the parents did that to their young? That is highly unlikely. Rats will do that, and even owls, and I'm sure other predators, but not the parents.


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## almondman

Most birds are territorial around their nest site. And birds will drive their young away from the nest when the young reach a certain age, usually when the young are fully feathered, weaned, and able to fly.

At seven weeks old, it could be that the adults didn't recognize your baby as theirs, and drove it off. There is a good chance your bird may not come back. This is just natures way. However you could leave food and water out for a few days in case it decides to return. Change the water once or twice a day, and clean up any spilled feed to prevent vermin from finding it. If after a week, you haven't seen it, it's probably gone.

Thank you for taking the bird in and caring for it. You did a very good thing helping it survive. And Jay is right, the parents are not the ones that ate the nest mate.


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## littlemoon

Thanks to you all for your input. 

I was led to believe that the mother ate the nest mate from information I found on the web. I googled it and found many places that said a Dove would eat her young. 

I was also sitting under the nest when both babies were pushed out. There wasn't a ruckus of any kind, no crow for sure, no owl for sure, we have never had tree rats. I found Olivia on the ground, and a few seconds later her nest mate landed on my patio umbrella. I looked up and saw the nest.

I was so shocked at the sight of the headless nest mate and worried about how I was going to care for the living bird I just can't recall if I saw anything in or around the nest.

I guess I am surprised that Olivia is gone because she has stayed around the house for weeks. She'd fly across the street, stay awhile and come back. She perched in the trees in my yard all day some days, but always came back to the table where her food is or just landed on my head.

Well it's 48 hours... still hoping she comes home.

Does anyone know when Mourning Doves begin to sing the adult song? And at what age are they fully mature? Olivia hasn't yet acquired the coo-coo or her adult coloration. She was showing a little bit of black on the side of her neck, but none on her wings yet.

Thanks again for the input. I look forward to learning even more about Mourning Doves. I've learned alot raising this little sweetie, but there's more to learn.


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## Skyeking

Have you seen this link?

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Mourning_Dove/id


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## littlemoon

skyeking, I have, thank you. It's a great site but doesn't answer the questions I have about when Doves are fully mature or begin to sing.

O/T: my flight instructors nick name was sky king. Thanks for the memory.


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## spirit wings

would you post the links to where it says morning doves eat their babies.. I never heard of this before and find it hard to believe. Now a jay or crow or black bird can and do that kind of damage and when found by the parent birds they may shove the dead out of the nest..and the other could of been looked at as damged to them as well.


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## littlemoon

spiritwings: I will when I get time. I looked again for those websites this morning but I ran out of time, I'll find them again and I'll post them.

I feel kinda stupid now, but I saw that info in several places so I believed it.

Later.


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## Jay3

The other could have been pushed out by mistake in trying to get the dead one out.


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## Me0mi0me

*There are always exceptions to every story.*

I have had Mourning doves around my house for 5 years. But the ones I have in my back yard have me baffled. The parents laid their eggs in a planter right next to my kitchen door. I talked to them took pictures and had a cookout with lots of people. They never budged. The little ones were born and acted the same as the parents. One week ago they left the nest and made their home under my table by the pool. They go up in the flower bed at night. I found the father dieing 4 days ago. I have no idea why he died. The mother is still comeing around trying to tempt them away. She still lets them eat. They tell me that siblings dont mate . But they are inseparable. I need to take my pool cover off. But I have had many birds drown. I dont want to find one of them in the pool. They have to be territorial . Because the mother chased off another pair of doves. All the other doves have left in about 8 days. After leaving the nest. If they stay I guess Im going to have to take the cover off and hope for the best. My husband cutting the lawn and my three dogs dont seem to concern them. Good luck with your dove . I have had a lot of joy watching mine.


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## spirit wings

still waiting on those websites...


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## littlemoon

Meomiome, nice story, she hasn't come back yet, but I keep calling for her. I hate that daddy died and that some have drowned in the pool.  I love nature, but sometimes it is cruel, or so it seems.

Spirit wings, I have looked, I work alot, can't find them as yet. When I find those links i'll send em sweetie. I traced one back to pigeon biz i think, but i was mistaken. The post was about a different bird. I'll look more when I have the time. 

Thanks everyone for your input.


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