Build Mourning Dove Nest Baskets

Mourning Doves Don’t Use Nesting Boxes but Will Use a Cone

Sep 19, 2007 Rosemary Drisdelle

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:

Hang a Nesting Box for Birds

What is a Winter Roosting Box

Facts About Pigeons and Doves

Sources:

"Mourning Dove." Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology: All About Birds.

"Creating a Wild Backyard: Mourning Dove." Maryland Department of Natural Resources: Wild Acres Program

The copyright of the article Build Mourning Dove Nest Baskets in Birds is owned by Rosemary Drisdelle. Permission to republish Build Mourning Dove Nest Baskets in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

Comments

Jan 30, 2009 5:41 AM

Guest :

Thank you for the mourning dove nesting info. juli ontario

Mar 25, 2009 1:18 PM

Guest :

I made a nest of pine straw in a green hanging basket after the plant died. I live in a condo with an upstairs covered balcony decided to hang the basket about 15 inches in so that it would be somewhat protected from the rain. The doves had been nesting in the fork of a crepe myrtle tree that is about three feet away from the balcony. It was after a snake got in the nest that I decided to try to entise them with the hanging basket nest. That was about five years ago and they have been nesting in the basket ever since. They average about 4 nestings a year. They are so frindley that we can walk right up to the nest and look in without them flying away. It has been quite a joy to watch them over the years.

Mar 29, 2009 6:04 PM

Guest :

We have a confused pair of mourning doves. They tried to build a nest on the windsheild wiper on the rear of our SUV in our driveway. My husband repeatedly dismantled the tangles of twigs, sometimes 8-10 times in one day. He then removed the windsheild wiper and they tried to build a nest on the roof of the car...same procedure...repeatedly dismantling the nest. Nothing would deter this pair. Finally we parked the car on the other side of the street. This was effective. But the pair looks just desolate, roosting on the fence in the driveway, looking very mournful. I have empty planting baskets in the yard, but these do not seem attractive to them. We have only very young trees in our front yard, not suitable for nesting. This is very confusing. What is wrong with these two?

Apr 8, 2009 1:43 PM

Guest :

i have a pair trying to build a nest on top of my light fixture, unfortunately it's right outside my back door, a high traffic area. i put a platform on the wall 6 feet away from thier intended site, but they havent taken to it yet. im keeping my fingers crossed. they dont care how many times i chase them away from the light, they just keep coming back!

Apr 13, 2009 6:54 PM

Guest :

I have a wreath on my front door that a Cardinal built a nest in last year and there was a mouring dove on the wreath early morning. In and out the door all day when out for the evening returning in one hour and there was a dove in the nest. We scared her off and with our amazement there was a egg.

5 Comments