Mourning Dove Nest in La Mesa,                       California                 Photos by Jennifer Voss

I was busy watering our patio garden one morning when I discovered that someone had made a home in my favorite hanging plant. Mourning doves often nest in evergreen trees but in an urban area, they will settle  for a flower box, a potted plant or even a ledge.  Their  name comes from their song, which is a moaning, low-toned cooah, coo, coo, coo. When they fly, their wings make a whistling sound.  The doves make a monogamous pair bond and share all the duties of parenting. The male stays on the nest during the daylight hours.

In the late afternoon, the female returns to take over until the next morning.

Mourning  doves incubate one or two plain white eggs which hatch in just fourteen to fifteen days.

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