From Hoots to Coos: Distinguishing Between Owls and Mourning Doves

Have you ever heard the distinctive hoot-hoot of an owl? It’s one of the most well-known and cherished of all bird calls. Hoots can convey many different messages. Owls hoot to mark their territory and warn potential competitors to stay away. Owls also hoot if they detect the presence of a predator, such as an eagle, snake, or wildcat. Mated pairs may use a special type of hoot to communicate with each other in a secret lovers’ language. As nocturnal hunters, you’re most likely to hear owls hooting at night from the branch of a nearby tree. However, what if it’s daytime, and you hear that familiar hooting sound coming from outside your window? Could it be another bird that sounds like an owl? Meet the mourning dove, the bird that sounds like an owl. Continue reading to learn more about this little hooter.

Mourning Dove: Overview

Also known as the turtle dove or Carolina pigeon, the mourning dove (Zenaida macroura) is a common sight throughout North America, belonging to the Columbidae family of doves and pigeons. It’s a close relative of the eared dove and Socorro dove. It shares close ties with the extinct passenger pigeon, and for years, scientists grouped them into the same genus. Despite its name, it bears little kinship with the similarly named mourning collared dove native to Africa. To help differentiate the two, the mourning dove is also called the American mourning dove. Currently, scientists recognize 5 different subspecies of the mourning dove. 

Distribution and Habitat

Mourning doves live throughout the United States, Mexico, Central America, and parts of Southern Canada. They live on many of the islands in the Caribbean, including Bermuda, Cuba, Puerto Rico, and Costa Rica. Each of the five subspecies tends to live in distinct areas, although their ranges occasionally overlap. Most of the birds in Canada and the Northern United States will migrate south for winter. Populations that live in warmer climates tend to be year-round residents. They make their homes in a wide variety of habitats, including urban areas, grasslands, and woodlands. Generally, they avoid wetland areas and dense forests. It’s common to find mourning doves living near humans, and they don’t appear overly bothered by the presence of people. They typically build their nests in trees, but also construct them in bushes, on buildings, or sometimes on the ground. 

Physical Characteristics

The mourning dove is a medium-sized bird. They typically measure around 12 inches long and sport a wingspan between 14.5 to 17.7 inches. Most specimens weigh around 4.5 ounces. Their wings are broad and elliptical-shaped, and their heads are round. Mourning doves grow long, tapered tails. Like other perching songbirds, three of their toes point forward, while one points backward. This configuration allows them to grip small tree limbs. Mourning doves have a short, dark-colored beak and reddish legs. Common colors include light gray and brown, with black markings on the back and white on the tail. Males and females look very similar, although males feature a bluish crest and pinkish patches on their necks. 

Social and Mating Behavior

When not mating or raising young, mourning doves live together in large groups. On hot days, when not foraging for food, they may enjoy a birdbath or dust bath to cool. During the breeding seasons, males court females by noisily flapping their wings and puffing out their chests. Mourning doves mate for life, and the same pairs will raise multiple broods over successive breeding seasons. Males and females pick out nesting sites together. While the male helps to gather materials for the nest, only the female will construct it. Occasionally, mourning doves may take over an abandoned nest left by another dove, bird, or squirrel. 

Female mourning doves almost exclusively lay two eggs per brood. Males and females take turns incubating the eggs and will vigilantly watch over their nests and eggs. If threatened by a predator, adult mourning doves utilize a brilliant strategy to draw away attackers from their nests. One of the adults will fly away from the nest and then act as if it has a broken wing. Once the predator takes the bait, it will then fly away from the nest in the hopes that the predator will follow. Once the eggs hatch, both parents will contribute to feeding the baby doves, or squabs. Squabs are fed pigeon’s milk, or crop milk, for the first few days after they hatch. Slowly, their diet will transition more to seeds. By the time they leave the nest, around two weeks after hatching, their diet is the same as their parents’. 

Diet

While the mourning dove is a bird that sounds like an owl, it does not eat like an owl. The diet of the mourning dove is comprised almost entirely of seeds. Seeds make up 99% of their diet, although they will occasionally eat some insects. After stuffing their crops with seeds, they will fly away to a perch to digest. They may also eat fine dirt, sand, or small rocks, which help to aid their digestion. Mourning doves eat a wide variety of seeds, including rapeseed, corn, safflower, millet, and sunflower seeds. That said, they tend to favor some seeds over others, and particularly enjoy corn, pine nuts, sesame, and wheat seeds. 

Ecological and Cultural Importance

Due to their mostly vegetarian diet, mourning doves serve as important seed dispersers. They distribute seeds of different plants over a large area by digesting and defecating them. Mourning doves help to support predator populations, including hawks, falcons, snakes, wildcats, and foxes, as a prey source. Culturally, mourning doves traditionally played an important role in the oral traditions of several Native American tribes. Internationally, they serve as a symbol of peace and love. The mourning dove is Wisconsin’s official symbol of peace and Michigan’s state bird of peace. It also serves as the national bird of the British Virgin Islands. 

How to Tell an Owl Call From a Mourning Dove Call

The mourning dove is a bird that sounds like an owl, so it’s difficult to differentiate their calls, especially if you’re not familiar with them. A few distinct features can help you to tell their vocalizations apart from one another. Typically, the male mourning dove makes a sound like cooOOoo-wooooo-woo-woo, which is made up of four parts. The first part sounds more like a trilling coo, followed by a long woo and two shorter woos. Other calls include a shorter cooOOOoo used when mated pairs meet, or a short roo-oo to warn of nearby predators. Owl calls generally sound sharper and less melodic than those of mourning doves. Many owl hoots can also sound like barks, made up of quick, staccato woos. Others may emit single hoos, which again sound more guttural and deeper than the lighter, more airy coos or woos of the mourning dove.