Mourning doves nesting in yard!

[Rose bloom]

I discovered doves when I went to trim grape vine.

[GardeningCook]

That is so sweet. We have lots of them around, but only once found them nesting in one of our Virginia Pines. Their nests are so twiggy, loose, & haphazard, it's a miracle that they're able to raise any youngsters at all!

[Rose bloom]

I know. It is really messy, however, this nest seems to be neater than other dove nests.

[applestar]

We have a weeping cherry tree in the front yard that, over the years, has formed a "Crown Roast of Pork" effect at the top of its trunk. Mourning Doves who are, as noted, very poorly skilled nest builders use this built in cradle in which they throw a few sticks in and call it a nest every year. They typically raise multiple broods.

Last year, robins somehow won that nesting spot and the mourning doves managed a nest in the honeysuckle covered arch trellis. The trellis is attached to a gate with a bad latch, needing to be slammed shut each time, and I worried that the eggs or chicks would fall out of that nest -- I mean I could SEE the bird sitting in the nest through the gaps

BTW robins built a nest in the exact same vine covered arch trellis this year -- all I can see is the tail sticking out from the solid mud-and-grass thatch (raked by yours truly and used to mulch the garden) - and sticks nest.

[Rose bloom]

Doves build such messy nests. Wow! What a comparison.

[Rose bloom]

I think the dove chicks have hatched! The mother dove/father dove keeps standing up like there are chicks wiggling under them.

[Rose bloom]

They have hatched! I saw them today.

[applestar]

That's great! It's so much fun to watch their progress and eventually fly... Then, it won't take long before the parent birds to settle down to raise another brood.

I love seeing the birds nesting and raising their young in my garden too.

[Rose bloom]

They have some feathers already!

[pepperhead212]

Several years ago I had a pair of mourning doves that nested in one of my windowsill boxes on my deck! Like GardeningCook said, the nest was so haphazardly put together, it barely looked like a nest, with the chives forming most of the nest. At first, both would fly away when they saw me, and try to distract me (I guess), but after a while they got used to me and never bothered to move when I went out there (and it was a busy area, and time of year! LOL). Here is a photo of the babies, a couple weeks old:


I see the same pair of doves every spring, but they have never done this again. However, this year I found a pile of twigs in the middle of one of the steps going up onto my deck, and thought "Oh no! Not there!". No eggs, yet, so I took it and placed it in the same pot they nested in before, but I never saw them up there. I don't even know if it was them that made the pile of twigs.

[applestar]

that must have been great to be able to see the nest and chicks up close and personal.

...their nest making abilities are in serious doubt. The other day, it was REALLY a windy and I was making the last round of the garden to make sure everything was OK (some container plants needed to be watered, some overgrown containers that need uppotting blow over if getting dry, and they Had

I had moved on past the containers under the lee of neighbor's big pine trees that overhang the fence into airspace above my side when I heard a THUD. I had placed some tomato seedlings of varieties of particular interest on a bench among the other containers, so I rushed back to see what fell on what.

...it was dried thick grass, very loosely formed into a bowl shape -- and it had fallen on the edge of the overwintered celery container and mostly on the bench. ... those mourning doves! (I could hear them making those alarm calls they usually make when they are startled and take off -- only repeatedly and in two places up in the trees, so I guess both the male and female were lamenting ) Happily cursory check didn't reveal eggs or chicks anywhere.

Looking up, I could see that a robin's nest was still securely attached a branch.

[tomf]

I love hearing them coo.

[Rose bloom]

Aya yay. Those mourning doves in my yard didn't even make a nest! They just stuffed grass and leaves into a natural chamber!

[Rose bloom]

The babies have flown away.