Mourning Dove

Despite Mourning Doves' being “notoriously sensitive to cold weather” (SD Game Fish and Parks), they do attempt to winter in our northern states. I saw two on Monday at a local bird feeder near Dundas.

They require cover, preferring river valleys with plentiful food sources like bird feeders or left-over grain. They do not always survive. In South Dakota, I once found two Mourning Doves that buried themselves in a snow drift, making themselves a snow cave, but were overcome by −40 degree temperatures. 

Inspection of this photograph will indicate that this dove’s portrait was not taken in the winter, but during a South Dakota spring near Aberdeen. The odd, greenish wash on the dove’s body is due to reflections from the Russian Olives in which the bird roosted.