Mourning doves are a familiar sight, often observed resting on the ground. This common behavior serves various purposes integral to their daily lives, from finding sustenance to maintaining physical health. Sitting on the ground is a normal and frequent activity for these adaptable birds.
Resting and Conserving Energy
Mourning doves often settle on the ground to rest, especially after periods of flight or intense activity. This allows them to conserve energy. After rapidly consuming seeds to fill their crop, a specialized pouch in their throat, they often seek a quiet spot on the ground to digest their meal. This resting posture can make them less conspicuous to potential predators compared to perching higher in trees. Sometimes, while resting or sunbathing, doves can appear almost motionless, which helps them recuperate and manage energy.
Foraging for Food
A primary reason mourning doves spend time on the ground is to forage for food. Their diet consists primarily of seeds, grains, and small fruits, which they find by walking along the ground. Unlike some birds that scratch the earth, doves simply pick up visible seeds without digging. They quickly fill their crop with seeds and often ingest small pieces of grit, which aids digestion within their gizzard. This strategy allows them to gather a substantial amount of food before retreating to a safer location to digest.
Maintaining Health and Comfort
Sitting on the ground is also important for mourning doves to maintain their health and comfort through various self-care routines. Sunbathing is a common behavior where doves lie on the ground, often with one wing outstretched, exposing their feathers to the sun. This practice helps to warm their bodies, dry their feathers, and may dislodge external parasites by making them more active and easier to preen away.
Doves also engage in dust bathing, rolling and fluttering in dry soil. This action helps to clean their plumage by absorbing excess oils and removing dirt, loose feathers, and parasites, contributing to feather health and flight efficiency.
The ground further assists in thermoregulation, the process of maintaining a stable body temperature. On warm days, doves might seek cooler, shaded spots on the ground, or use evaporative cooling through their skin to dissipate heat. Conversely, on colder days, they might absorb warmth from the ground or fluff their feathers while on the ground to trap insulating air, helping them conserve body heat.
Recognizing Signs of Distress
While ground-sitting is a normal behavior for mourning doves, certain signs might indicate a bird is in distress. Observing a dove that appears lethargic, unusually still for extended periods, or unresponsive to nearby movement is cause for concern. Other indicators of potential injury or illness include ruffled or tattered feathers, visible injuries, limping, or abnormal breathing patterns. If a dove exhibits these signs, it needs assistance. In such situations, it is advisable to contact a local wildlife rehabilitator for guidance rather unfortunate rather than attempting to intervene directly.