Migration

Figure 3. Fall migration of Mourning Doves

Figure 7. Annual cycle of migration, breeding, and molt.

Migration knowledge derived principally from hunter recoveries of banded birds of subspecies carolinensis (eastern population) and marginella (western population). Scarce information available about movements of other subspecies within their limited ranges. The Mourning Dove is generally a complete migrant in the northern fringe of its breeding range, a partial migrant in mid-latitude regions with relatively mild winter climate, and a non-migrant in the southern portion of its range. With the exception of the northern tier of breeding states, the species may be found wintering in nearly all of the continental U.S., and most of Mexico and Central America (see Breeding Bird Survey data). Migration distance varies substantially, ranging from several thousand miles for north-central U.S. breeding migrants to hundreds of miles for lower-latitude birds.

Timing And Routes Of Migration

Late summer movements of carolinensis and marginella consist of immatures in locally growing flocks searching for food and water (Hanson and Kossack 1963). Immatures tend to begin southward migration first (Tomlinson et al. 1960, Truett 1966, Blankenship et al. 1967), followed by adults (Dunks et al. 1982; Tomlinson 1993) (see Fig. 7).

Migratory pathways of carolinensis and marginella combined fall somewhat imperfectly into 3 “Management Units” (Kiel 1961): Eastern (EMU), Central (CMU), and Western (WMU; Fig.3), which are conceptually similar to flyways used for waterfowl management. Boundaries for these management units have been supported by specific banding analyses; e.g., Tomlinson (1993) and (Hayne and Geissler 1977) for the EMU, Dunks et al. (1982) for the CMU, Tomlinson et al. (1988) for the WMU, and Smith (2000) for all units. Data reflect geographical patterns of harvest and in doing so reveal fall migratory patterns as follows:

Eastern Management Unit

Mourning Doves from New England generally migrate down the Atlantic coast (data in Hayne and Geissler 1977, analysis by Tomlinson 1993:64). Birds banded in the mid-Atlantic states migrate south and southwest, and migrating birds from mid- and north-central states winter primarily across the Gulf Coast states, with a relatively small component crossing into states in the southeastern region of the CMU.

Central Management Unit

Mourning Doves banded in the northeastern and north-central CMU states exhibit the broadest pattern of migration among all subpopulations; birds move south into eastern Texas, Mexico, and Central America, as well as southeast into EMU mid-latitude and Gulf Coast states (Atkinson et al. 1982, Dunks et al. 1982, Otis et al. 2008). Mourning Doves in the northwestern states move south and southwest, edging into southern WMU states (Dunks et al. 1982).

Western Management Unit

Mourning Doves from northern coastal WMU migrate south and southeast, and birds from the northern interior states primarily south. There are few recoveries south of the western highlands of Mexico (Tomlinson et al. 1988, Otis et al. 2008).

Timing of migration in both fall and spring is difficult to describe because of the presence of over-wintering birds in many areas and because of the wide range in latitudes used for breeding and wintering.

Insight into progression of fall migration can be gained by examination of recoveries of northerly banded birds recovered in more southerly localities during progressive intervals in Sep–Feb. Some immatures from the Ohio, Pennsylvania, and mid-latitude EMU states have migrated into Gulf Coast states by early Sept, but the majority of both age classes do not complete migration until Oct and Nov. Recovery patterns suggest that few birds from these areas winter in mid-latitude EMU states (Scott et al. 2004). Birds from Iowa are present in southeastern CMU states in Sep, and recoveries from Mexico and Gulf Coast states increase in Oct and Nov. Immatures from the north-central CMU are present in Oklahoma and Texas by early Sep, with increasing numbers of both age classes in late Sep. Recoveries of northern latitude birds in Mexico begin in Oct and Nov, and generally increase as winter progresses. Northern WMU birds seem to arrive later than their more eastern CMU counterparts. This migration chronology into Mexico is somewhat later than suggested by Dunks et al. (1982), Tomlinson et al. (1988), and Purdy (1978). Tomlinson et al. (1988) suggested that migration of northern birds throughout the WMU began before 1 Sep. These analyses collectively suggest that at any given time between August and December, Mourning Doves somewhere in the continental U.S. are in migration.

In spring, recoveries of immatures banded in WMU (Tomlinson et al. 1988) and CMU (Dunks et al. 1982) decrease markedly in Mexico after 1–10 Apr; recoveries of adults decrease by 11–20 Mar, suggesting full northward migration in progress from Mexico by mid-Apr (Tomlinson et al. 1988). However, spring migration chronology is not well-described. Early studies suggested that counts of singing birds (“coo-counts”) in diverse areas of the U.S. peak late Apr and early May (Duvall and Robbins 1952, McGowan 1952, Southeast. Assoc. Game and Fish Comm. 1957), indicating completion of spring migration by that time. Field observations in Illinois (Hanson and Kossack 1963), Indiana (Ginn 1950), and Minnesota (Harris et al. 1963) suggest spring migration probably progresses slowly during Apr and terminates mid- to late May for most areas of the U.S. “Perhaps the northern movement ends earlier in the South [than in the North]. However, the time disparity is possibly no more than two weeks” (Tomlinson 1993: 76).

For sightings of Mourning Doves at monthly intervals, 2004-2008, see Ebird data.

Migratory Behavior

There are scattered indications of nocturnal migration, e.g., television-tower kills at night during migratory periods (e.g., Crawford 1981), but most direct evidence is of diurnal fall migration, at least when flocks move unhurriedly with frequent stops to feed and loaf. Level flight speeds approaching 90 km/h have been witnessed from automobile (Bastin 1952) and 65 km/h by radar (Schnell and Hellack 1978), but speeds during migratory flight are probably slower. Exact dates of departure and arrival cannot be known from banding data, but approximate calculations suggest < 180 km per day (Tomlinson 1993). Birds usually migrate at low altitudes; thousands of Mourning Doves in flocks of 5–50 birds have been seen flying “just over the tops of mesquite, ironwood, and paloverde trees in Sonora, Mexico, during late August and September” (Tomlinson 1993: 58). Similar observations reported from Texas and Colorado, but Mourning Doves have also been observed crossing mountain passes at about 3,000 m in the Sierra Madre of California (McLean 1959).

Principal migratory pathways do not include flights over large bodies of water, although a few have been observed in trans-Gulf migration in spring and autumn (Bullis and Lincoln 1952, Siebanaler 1954, Stevenson 1957). Migratory flight has been reported between Florida and Cuba and the Greater Antilles (Lincoln 1937, 1941), with a few band recoveries reported in Cuba.

Fall and spring migration is thought to be triggered by photoperiod, local climatic conditions (temperature and prevailing wind), and food availability (Van Tyne and Berger 1976).

Control And Physiology

Lipid reserves of adults are greatest in autumn just before the migratory period, but seasonal body weight patterns are confounded by late breeding cycles (Jenkins 1955).