Mourning doves, with their gentle cooing and widespread presence, are a familiar sight across North America. Many people observe these birds in pairs and often wonder about the nature of their relationships. A common question arises: do mourning doves truly mate for life?
The Nature of Mourning Dove Pair Bonds
Mourning doves are monogamous during a single breeding season, forming a pair bond to raise their young. This strong bond involves shared behaviors like mutual preening and cooing. While some sources suggest they mate for life, their commitment is seasonal.
A pair may re-form with the same mate in subsequent breeding seasons, particularly if both survive and return to the same territory. This re-pairing is not guaranteed, depending on factors like survival, temperament, and environmental conditions. If one mate dies, the surviving dove will find a new partner, driven by the imperative to reproduce.
Cooperative Nesting and Rearing
Once a pair bond is established, male and female mourning doves share nesting and rearing responsibilities. The male selects potential sites, and the female chooses one, often a loosely constructed platform of twigs and grasses in a tree, shrub, or on a building ledge. The male gathers materials, bringing them to the female who arranges them to build the nest, a process that can take up to a week.
Both parents actively incubate the two white eggs, which hatch after about 14 days. The male usually takes the day shift, while the female incubates during the night, ensuring the eggs are rarely left unattended.
After hatching, both parents feed the young, called squabs, with “crop milk” for the first few days. This protein and fat-rich substance is secreted from their crop and regurgitated directly to the squabs. After about a week, the squabs’ diet transitions to partially digested seeds. Young doves fledge, or leave the nest, at 11 to 15 days of age, but may remain near the nest area for several more days, continuing to receive food from their parents.
Seasonal Commitments and Future Pairings
The pair bond of mourning doves dissolves once the last brood has fledged. They may then migrate separately or join larger flocks. While some pairs may stay together year-round in warmer climates, the strong pair bond seen during nesting is tied to the reproductive cycle.
Mourning doves can re-pair with the same mate in subsequent breeding seasons. However, this is not a guaranteed lifelong commitment, and many individuals find a new mate if their previous partner does not return or if circumstances change. This seasonal fidelity allows flexibility in a species with a relatively short average lifespan of 1 to 2 years, though some can live much longer.