The mourning dove is one of the most abundant and widespread of all North American birds. It is also a leading gamebird, with more than 20 million birds shot annually in the U.S. The species is generally monogamous, with two squabs per brood. The bird is a strong flier, capable of speeds up to 88 kmh.
About Mourning dove in brief
The mourning dove is one of the most abundant and widespread of all North American birds. It is also a leading gamebird, with more than 20 million birds shot annually in the U.S. The wings make an unusual whistling sound upon take-off and landing, a form of sonation. Mourning doves are light grey and brown and generally muted in color. Males and females are similar in appearance. The species is generally monogamous, with two squabs per brood. Both parents incubate and care for the young. The bird is a strong flier, capable of speeds up to 88 kmh. It is the national bird of the British Virgin Islands. There are five subspecies: The western subspecies is found in western America, including parts of Mexico. The West Peruvian dove is found throughout the Greater Antilles. It has recently invaded the Florida Keys, as well as Bermuda and the Bahamas. The Socorro dove has at times been considered conspecific with the mourning dove, although several differences in behavior, call and appearance justify separation as two different species. The eared dove and the Zenaida dove are sometimes classified in the separate genus Zenaidura, but the current classification has them as separate species in the genus Zenaida. The genus name commemorates Zénaïde Laetitia Julie Bonaparte, wife of the French ornithologist Charles LucienBonaparte and niece of Napoleon Bonapartes. The specific epithet is from the Ancient Greek makros meaning “long” and “ouros” meaning “tailed” The mourning dove has been known as the Carolina pigeon and the Carolina turtledove, and was once known as Turtur carolinensis, and the turtle dove, and as the American mourning dove and rain dove.
In 1731 the English naturalists Mark Catesby described and illustrated the passenger pigeons and the mourning doves on successive pages of his The Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands. For the passenger pigeon he used the common name \”Pigeon of passage\” and the Latin Palumbus migratorius; for the mourning Dove he used \”Turtle of Carolina\” and TurtUR carolinense. In. 1758 the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus updated his Systema Naturae for the tenth edition he conflated the two species. He used the Latin name Columba macroura introduced by Edwards as the binomial name but included a description mainly based on Cates by. Edwards’ description. In 1952 Francis Hemming proposed in 1952 that the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature secure the specific name Macroura for the mourners. This was accepted by the ICZN, which used its plenary powers to designate the species for the respective names in 1955. The birds are closely related to the eared doves and the Socorra dove. Some authorities describe them as forming a superspecies.
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This page is based on the article Mourning dove published in Wikipedia (as of Dec. 02, 2020) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
