Mourning Dove Identification

The Four Keys to ID

• Size & Shape

  Plump-bodied and long-tailed, with short legs, small bill, and a head that looks particularly small in comparison to the body. The long, pointed tail is unique among North American doves.

  Relative Size

  Smaller, slenderer than Rock Pigeon

  robin-sized

  Measurements

  • Male
  • • Length: 9.1-13.4 in (23-34 cm)
    • Weight: 3.4-6.0 oz (96-170 g)
    • Wingspan: 17.7 in (45 cm)
  • Female
  • • Weight: 3.0-5.5 oz (86-156 g)
    • Wingspan: 17.7 in (45 cm)

  © Scott Martin / Macaulay Library

• Color Pattern

  Mourning Doves often match their open-country surroundings. They’re delicate brown to buffy-tan overall, with black spots on the wings and black-bordered white tips to the tail feathers.

• Behavior

  Mourning Doves fly fast on powerful wingbeats, sometimes making sudden ascents, descents, and dodges, their pointed tails stretching behind them.
• Habitat

  You can see Mourning Doves nearly anywhere except the deep woods. Look for them in fields or patches of bare ground, or on overhead perches like telephone wires.