Build Mourning Dove Nest Baskets
Mourning Doves Don’t Use Nesting Boxes but Will Use a Cone
A nest basket for Mourning Doves is one of the simplest kinds of bird house you can build. Place it in shrubs or the branches of a conifer.
In the spring, mated pairs of Mourning Doves build nests out of pine needles, twigs, and sturdy grass stems: the female does the building while the male stands on her back and passes her nesting material. The nesting site is usually fairly high in an evergreen tree, surrounded by concealing plant growth, but Mourning Doves nests are found in many other unusual places: hanging flower baskets, plant pots on balconies, in shrubbery, in the hollows of cacti, and even, very rarely, on the ground. The finished nest is a rather loose flimsy structure, usually supported by the fork of a branch.
If you have Mourning Doves in your neighborhood, you may be able to entice them to nest nearby by providing a sturdy nest basket in a suitable place. To build the cone-shaped basket, all you need is some wire mesh or hardware cloth, a pair of tin snips, and a stapler or flexible wire:
- Cut a piece of hardware cloth about 30.5cm (12in) square.
- Trim the corners off the square to make a circle.
- Cut a pie-shaped wedge out of the circle that is about 6.5cm (2.5in) wide at the outside.
- Pull the cut edges of the circle together and overlap them by about 2.5cm (1in), forming a cone-shaped basket.
- Secure the edges together with staples or flexible wire.
- Prevent sharp edges by folding the upper edge of the cone toward the outside.
Place the Mourning Dove nest basket in a tree from six to thirty feet above the ground, securing it in the Y of a branch with staples or wire. Mourning doves prefer pine or cedar trees; however, lacking these, the birds will nest in other trees provided there is sufficient vegetation to hide the nest but not so much that access for the adult birds is restricted. If you have an open evergreen tree that can be viewed from an upper window, consider whether there are good nesting sites in view (not too close: Mourning Doves will desert a nest if they feel threatened).
Mourning Doves lay two eggs. The male and female share parental responsibilities, with the male sitting on the eggs for much of day and the female taking over in the late afternoon and remaining through the night and early morning. Eggs hatch in about two weeks and chicks fledge about two weeks after that. A breeding pair sometimes raises five or six pairs of chicks in a single season.
Be prepared for disappointment: as many as a third of nests fail, and mortality of young birds is high in the first year. Nests are raided by other birds, squirrels, snakes, roving cats and other predators. Human interference and activity nearby can cause a pair to desert eggs or nestlings. If all goes well, however, you may be able to watch a pair of Mourning Doves raise a clutch from start to finish.
Related content:
Sources:
"Mourning Dove." Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology: All About Birds.
"Creating a Wild Backyard: Mourning Dove." Maryland Department of Natural Resources: Wild Acres Program
