An Early Morning Mourning Dove

I spotted this mourning dove one morning hanging out in a tree in my backyard. I actually heard hin or her before seeing it. Their cooing sounds are easily recognizable and do sound a bit mournful which is how it came to be known as a "mourning" dove.

The cooing sound is almost always made by the male dove so either this is a male in my photo or the male was very close by and hidden from my sight.

You will usually see mourning doves in pairs and are considered to be monogamous. There has been a pair in my yard this season and I believe they built a nest in a tree near the side of the house.

The female will normally lay and incubate two eggs at a time and can raise several broods in a season. Both the male and female will incubate the eggs. I recently saw three mourning doves outside my house and wondered if one of them could have been a baby that had grown. The babies grow fast and usually leave the nest within a couple of weeks.

When I was younger I would feel bad if one of a pair of doves died (I still do) but the surviving dove will seek out another mate.

I'll be posting more photos of the mourning doves as they are pretty easy to photograph. They are very good at staying still long enough for this one (me) to get my camera, focus in and steady my hands!

Here are a few edits I thought you might enjoy! I know I enjoyed making them! 😉

I just love the colors on this one and how it came out!

I love the branch and beak shadows on this one!

Thank you @melinda010100 for #featheredfriday!!