# I have Doves nesting in my tree! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 21, 2006, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-doves-nesting-in-my-tree/369632 "2006-08-21T18:40:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Batsinma\_Belfry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea5d25/32.png) [@Batsinma\_Belfry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Batsinma_Belfry)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2006, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-doves-nesting-in-my-tree/369632/1 "2006-08-21T18:40:41Z")
They have been there since April and have raised atleast 2 offspring (at seperate times). I think they only have one egg each time. They aren’t very common in this area, and it took me forever to identify them. Here are some pictures I found: [http://www.pbase.com/brucecole/image/58693587](http://www.pbase.com/brucecole/image/58693587) [http://www.pbase.com/brucecole/image/55999841](http://www.pbase.com/brucecole/image/55999841) [http://www.pbase.com/brucecole/image/53700899](http://www.pbase.com/brucecole/image/53700899) But the pictures don’t show their most striking feature. Big, vivid, orange feet! ---
**Author:** ![Mindfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mindfield/32/19759_2.png) [@Mindfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mindfield)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2006, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-doves-nesting-in-my-tree/369632/2 "2006-08-21T18:48:26Z")
My mother-in-law discovered one nesting in one of her potted plants that hangs from a small gazebo in her back yard. Doves normally being birds that like to nest in high places, it was quite unusual, but a pleasant surprise. ---
**Author:** ![zagloba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/977dab/32.png) [@zagloba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zagloba)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2006, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-doves-nesting-in-my-tree/369632/3 "2006-08-21T18:59:50Z")
Bats in your belfry, doves in your tree – What’s next, ants in your pants? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2006, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-doves-nesting-in-my-tree/369632/4 "2006-08-21T19:03:04Z")
Cool. They make a pleasant sound, too. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2006, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-doves-nesting-in-my-tree/369632/5 "2006-08-21T20:32:16Z")
As you capped the word, I had visions of Dove chocolate ice cream bars outside in a tree. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Madd\_Maxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Madd\_Maxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Madd_Maxx)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2006, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-doves-nesting-in-my-tree/369632/6 "2006-08-21T20:38:29Z")
What does it sound like when they cry? Was Prince right? ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2006, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-doves-nesting-in-my-tree/369632/7 "2006-08-21T20:56:12Z")
[QUOTE=Madd Maxx] What does it sound like when they cry? Was Prince right? [/QUOTE] “coo” > **[Macaulay Library](https://www.macaulaylibrary.org/)** > > A scientific archive for research, education, and conservation, powered by you ---
**Author:** ![Dorjan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dorjan/32/12440_2.png) [@Dorjan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dorjan)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2006, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-doves-nesting-in-my-tree/369632/8 "2006-08-21T21:12:22Z")
Excited over some pigeons? Where do you live? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![theunfounddoor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b19c9b/32.png) [@theunfounddoor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/theunfounddoor)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2006, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-doves-nesting-in-my-tree/369632/9 "2006-08-21T21:26:44Z")
[QUOTE=Dorjän] Excited over some pigeons? Where do you live? 😕 [/QUOTE] I think this is a whoosh but, those (pics) aren’t pigeons. We have both pigeons and mourning dove’s here and they definitly aren’t the same thing. Mourning doves are a lot prettier in person and they sound beautiful. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![RumMunkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b19c9b/32.png) [@RumMunkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RumMunkey)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2006, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-doves-nesting-in-my-tree/369632/10 "2006-08-21T23:16:36Z")
FYI: The ‘coo’-ing sound they make with their throats, but the squealing sound when they take off and land is the air rushing through their wing feathers. I have about 50 in my backyard if you want more. I have noooooo problem, um… \*harvesting \*some for ya. ---
**Author:** ![Dorjan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dorjan/32/12440_2.png) [@Dorjan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dorjan)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2006, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-doves-nesting-in-my-tree/369632/11 "2006-08-22T03:56:10Z")
Ah, I was always under the impression that mourning doves and pigeons were one and the same, sort of like Floridans calling cockroaches “palmetto bugs”. The same beady beady eyes, the same annoying “coo coo” that drove me to murderous intent when they were nesting on my balcony… :mad: ---
**Author:** ![Batsinma\_Belfry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea5d25/32.png) [@Batsinma\_Belfry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Batsinma_Belfry)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2006, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-doves-nesting-in-my-tree/369632/12 "2006-08-22T04:56:22Z")
Okay, maybe not a big deal to some, but I can count on one hand, the number I’ve seen. And Cockroaches and palmetto bugs, may be the same thing in Florida, but around here, palmetto bugs have wings and don’t go after your food. ---
**Author:** ![Caprese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9a28c/32.png) [@Caprese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caprese)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2006, 10:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-doves-nesting-in-my-tree/369632/13 "2006-08-22T10:43:51Z")
No doubt mourning doves and pigeons are in the same _family_ but to me they are quite different from each other. When I lived in Denver, we had both and it was easy to see the differences. For one thing, the mourning doves flew away (I presume south) in the fall and did not return until spring. The pigeons stayed year-round. Mourning doves, to me, are smaller and in their own understated way, prettier. Here in northern Florida, we seem to have two varieties of doves, but neither of them are _exactly_ like either mourning doves or pigeons: one is dovelike but quite small, the other larger than the mourning doves. And both of these species were gone all winter, and returned here in the spring. **Batsinma Belfry** , I know what it’s like to get excited about seeing a certain type of bird. Until I moved here, I had rarely seen cardinals in the wild. This amuses my husband, who grew up in Illinois where cardinals are common. ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2006, 11:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-doves-nesting-in-my-tree/369632/14 "2006-08-22T11:15:24Z")
The always authoritative Wikipedia says: [Columbidae - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbidae) So tell us about your dove nests! Are they as crappily built as the ones in the tree in my backyard at home, which were little more than a little flat pad in the fork of a branch, and from which eggs toppled as often as not? ---
**Author:** ![Surly\_Chick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Surly\_Chick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surly_Chick)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2006, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-doves-nesting-in-my-tree/369632/15 "2006-08-22T11:31:22Z")
The one thing I love about where I live here in Germany (on a canal with loads of trees) is the assortment of bird life. (No tiny owls tho ☹ ) I am sung awake and to sleep daily. We also have what I was told are “wild pigeons” that are much large and prettier than city pigeons. I _like_ the cooing (very relaxing) but the night birds are my favorite. The thing I \*don’t \* like about where I live is the spiders the size of Volkswagons. The birds aren’t eating nearly enough of them to keep me happy. In fact, I came home last night to one in my kitchen sink. Unfortunately not doing the dishes. I smashed it with a rock. ---
**Author:** ![RumMunkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b19c9b/32.png) [@RumMunkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RumMunkey)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2006, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-doves-nesting-in-my-tree/369632/16 "2006-08-22T11:56:32Z")
> [@](#): > > Okay, maybe not a big deal to some, but I can count on one hand, the number I’ve seen. No, totally. I want to keep Geckos in an aquarium because they fascinate me, but people from the southern US think I’m nuts. ---
**Author:** ![Lionne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Lionne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lionne)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2006, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-doves-nesting-in-my-tree/369632/17 "2006-08-22T19:31:05Z")
I adore mourning doves, and wish I could set up a feeder outside my door. At my apartment complex, they like to attempt to nest in the nook between out outside light and the wall, but always get spooked off after a while. There must be a dozen nests still left there…I wonder if any will ever stick it out and have babies. ---
**Author:** ![dmatsch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3be4f8/32.png) [@dmatsch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dmatsch)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2006, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-doves-nesting-in-my-tree/369632/18 "2006-08-22T19:33:47Z")
[QUOTE=RumMunkey] FYI: The ‘coo’-ing sound they make with their throats, but the squealing sound when they take off and land is the air rushing through their wing feathers. I have about 50 in my backyard if you want more. I have noooooo problem, um… \*harvesting \*some for ya. [/QUOTE] They taste like chicken. Actually, more like duck. ---
**Author:** ![Batsinma\_Belfry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea5d25/32.png) [@Batsinma\_Belfry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Batsinma_Belfry)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2006, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-doves-nesting-in-my-tree/369632/19 "2006-08-22T20:20:57Z")
[QUOTE=OpalCat] The always authoritative Wikipedia says: [Columbidae - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbidae) So tell us about your dove nests! Are they as crappily built as the ones in the tree in my backyard at home, which were little more than a little flat pad in the fork of a branch, and from which eggs toppled as often as not? [/QUOTE] The nest is on the jagged stump, of a branch that broke off in a storm. It’s directly across from my kitchen window, and an eyesore. I was going to get my husband to cut it down until I saw a little head poking out. ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2006, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-doves-nesting-in-my-tree/369632/20 "2006-08-22T21:21:04Z")
The call of mourning doves is much, much prettier than the “look-at-the-poo” call of your average city pigeon. Yes, it sounds like a soft, mourning sob. Hoo – hooooo-ah hoooo, hoo, hoo. We currently have a pair nesting somewhere nearby, and their delicate little call always makes me stop what I’m doing to listen. I like their pretty tan, grey and rose coloring, too.