More Avian Visitors
—and Some Fascinating Facts About a Very Common Bird
White-winged Doves are Summer-ish residents of Tucson, meaning we see them mostly from March through September. They often sit on top of Saguaros, eating the Saguaros’ nectar, pollen, fruit, and seeds, and (I assume) enjoying the view.
Speaking of Doves, a Mourning Dove recently built a nest in the crook of a Saguaro arm in our yard. We’re keeping our eyes peeled for little dovelets! 😍 Can you spot Mama Mourning Dove in my photo?
While writing this post I did some research on Mourning Doves at All About Birds1 and learned some amazing facts about these very common birds (so of course I want to share what I learned!).
🧐 Some Fascinating Facts about Mourning Doves
The Mourning Dove is one of the most abundant birds in the U.S. with a population estimated at 350 million.
Mourning Doves are found year-round throughout most of the U.S. and much of Mexico.
Mourning Doves tend to feed on the ground, swallowing seeds and storing them in their crop (an enlargement of the esophagus). The record number of seeds recorded in a single crop was 17,200 bluegrass seeds!
Mourning Doves can survive in the desert in part due to their ability to drink brackish spring water that’s up to almost half the salinity of sea water, without becoming dehydrated the way humans would.
After those fascinating facts 😊 we segue on to another recent avian visitor who is nocturnal, so we very rarely see it during the day!
As you see on my Perpetual Journal page, hearing many birds’ warning calls let us know a predator/intruder was nearby. After looking around Hubby finally located the predator: a Western Screech-Owl. With its gray-and-white coloration, sitting in a tree with gray-and-white bark, it was very well camouflaged, and almost looked like a tree branch!
Hubby, the Senior Birder in the household, said he knew it was a juvenile Western Screech-Owl rather than an adult because it had more fluffy down-like feathers and only a few vertical black streaky feathers.
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Here’s a quote from a book I enjoyed reading and recommend. I don’t have a photo of the book (and sadly, it’s no longer available at my public library), but here’s a link to The Home Place, so you can learn more about the book.
“I believe the best way to begin reconnecting humanity’s heart, mind and soul to nature is for us to share our individual stories.”
- J. Drew Lanham, The Home Place: Memoirs of a Colored Man’s Love Affair With Nature
Thank you for being here! I appreciate it. See you next week!
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All Mourning Dove facts listed here are from All About Birds (https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Mourning_Dove).
Stories and their telling. I love the quote and the birds here today. Thank you!