As I gaze at the bird feeders outside my living room window in Decatur, three mourning doves swoop in. Two of them land beneath the feeders and start pecking at seeds that have spilled onto the ground. The third clings precariously to a tube feeder, trying vainly to get at the seeds there.
Doves are regular visitors to our feeders during winter — or I should say to our bird-feeding area since they tend to eat seeds on the ground. Their large size makes it difficult for them to perch on feeders to eat the morsels there.
I like doves, which are universally regarded as symbols of hope, love and peace. As such, they decorate several of the greeting cards that friends and family send us each holiday season. Two of this season’s “dove cards” are displayed on a chest in our living room near the window through which I watch the birds.
It’s ironic, however, that doves represent love and peace. Licensed hunters (myself included) are allowed to shoot thousands of the birds each fall and winter for sport. Out of the some 30 species of birds — songbirds, woodpeckers and others — that may visit feeders in Georgia during winter, the mourning dove is the only one officially designated as a “game bird.”
That means mourning doves can be hunted legally in Georgia. (The state’s current dove hunting season began Dec. 19 and runs through Jan. 31.) The dove ranks with the bobwhite quail and the wild turkey as Georgia’s most hunted game birds.
With their plump, brownish-gray bodies and long, pointy tails, mourning doves are common sights across Georgia. Their name comes from their doleful, sorrowful cooing song, which is usually made by unmated males.
In the early mornings of late January and early February, mourning doves will begin cooing and making their circling courtship flights. Egg-laying will begin in March and persist into September — one of the longest nesting seasons of any bird in the United States.
IN THE SKY: From David Dundee, Tellus Science Museum astronomer: The moon will be new on Monday and thus won’t be visible then, but look for a thin crescent moon in the west on Wednesday. Venus is in the west just after sunset and sets three hours later; it will appear near the moon on Tuesday evening. In the east at sunset are Mars, shining brightly, and Jupiter (rising). Saturn is in the west at sunset.
Charles Seabrook can be reached at charles.seabrook@yahoo.com.
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