Mourning doves are a familiar sight in many backyards, known for their distinctive, mournful cooing sound. While often heard during the day, their calls can occasionally occur at night. This article explores the typical vocal habits of mourning doves and the rare instances when their calls might indeed occur during the nighttime hours.
Understanding Mourning Dove Vocalizations
Mourning doves produce a characteristic “coo-OO-oo-oo-oo” sound, a soft, drawn-out vocalization that gives them their name. This call serves as a means for males to attract mates and functions as a territorial display, signaling their presence to other doves. These birds are predominantly diurnal, meaning they are active during daylight hours.
Their vocalizations are most frequent during the early morning hours, particularly around dawn, and in the late afternoon and early evening as dusk approaches. This pattern aligns with their general activity periods, when they forage for seeds and interact within their environment. During these times, cooing helps establish their presence and communicate with other doves. Their daytime vocalizations are a regular part of their behavioral repertoire.
Reasons for Nighttime Cooing
While mourning doves are primarily active and vocal during the day, hearing their coo at night is uncommon but not impossible. Often, what sounds like a mourning dove at night might be a case of misidentification. Other nocturnal birds, such as certain owl species, or even amphibians and insects, produce sounds that can sometimes be confused with the dove’s coo, especially in the dark.
Environmental disturbances can occasionally trigger a brief vocalization from a mourning dove at night. Bright artificial lights or sudden loud noises can disrupt their roosting sleep cycle. Such disturbances might cause a dove to briefly coo in response to the unexpected environmental change. This is typically a short, isolated instance rather than sustained vocalizing.
Mourning doves might also make soft calls near their nests if they are disturbed or if a mate is approaching the nest site. A predator’s presence near a roosting or nesting site can also prompt an alarm call, even in the darkness. These nighttime vocalizations are usually in response to an immediate threat or interaction. Very rarely, an individual bird might exhibit an unusual behavioral pattern, leading to an infrequent nighttime call.
Identifying Nocturnal Bird Sounds
The mourning dove’s coo has a distinct, sorrowful quality, characterized by its drawn-out notes and a specific rhythmic pattern. This unique sound helps differentiate it from the calls of other birds that are active after dark. For instance, various owl species produce vastly different sounds, ranging from the classic hoots of a great horned owl to the trilling calls of a screech owl. These sounds bear little resemblance to the dove’s soft coo.
Other nocturnal birds, such as nighthawks, produce a sharp, buzzing “peent” call, while whip-poor-wills are known for their repetitive, whistled “whip-poor-will” song. Both are significantly different in tone and structure from a mourning dove’s vocalizations. Non-avian sounds like frog calls or mechanical noises can also be mistaken for bird calls in the dark. Listening carefully for the rhythm, tone, and overall pattern helps accurately identify the source of nocturnal vocalizations.