The Season of the White Winged Dove

Spring in Tucson means the return of the White Winged Dove.  I don't care how much you like listening to Stevie Nicks sing about the White Winged Dove, if you live in Tucson long enough, you will find these glorified pigeons nothing but a nuisance. Come spring, they seem to be everywhere, cooing and doing their mating dances. 

Last spring, a pair of doves selected the eaves of our backyard patio as their nesting spot.  Each time Jim or I noticed that they had gathered a supply of dried grass or twigs up along the eaves of the patio roof, we quickly removed them, in our vain attempt to discourage them from setting up their homestead.  Before very long, the mother dove was firmly ensconced on her nest.  So, we decided we could put up with sharing our patio with a couple of doves and their hatchlings for a few weeks. It would be fun and entertaining to witness the cycle of life.

Soon after, Jim sneaked a peak into the nest and discovered two eggs.  We began to take notice of the comings and goings of both doves as they took turns sitting on their eggs.  Before long there were two little heads popping up and down over the top of the nest.  They kept their parents very busy feeding and foraging.  We enjoyed watching the hatchlings grow and take their first test flights.  They stayed in and around our backyard for several more weeks after learning to fly.  Jim made sure they had plenty to eat and drink once he started to notice the mother pigeon refusing to feed her young any longer.  The siblings discovered another spot in a corner of our patio just right for their "play room."  Here they could learn to be semi-independent of their mother and she could still check on them from time to time. 

It had been entertaining to watch this dove family, but now it was time to clean out the old nest and take back our patio.  Oh, how naive of us.  Before we knew it, mother dove had found a new boyfriend and was building a new nest in our patio eaves.  No wonder why she was so anxious to be rid of her first brood.  We had been outsmarted, and she now had two more eggs in a new nest.  There were now four doves sharing our patio and backyard, with two more on the way.  Mother dove's new boyfriend made it perfectly clear to the two teen-age doves that they were no longer welcome, and they soon moved on out of our backyard. Jim and I spotted the siblings several times perched on our neighbor's back wall before they were gone for good. 

We patiently watched and waited for the second hatchlings to appear and soon be on their way.  Sure enough, two more baby doves were hopping around in the second nest.  As soon as Jim noticed that mother dove was cavorting in our backyard with yet a third boyfriend, he made sure there would not be a third nest under our patio roof.  We stuffed all kinds of deterrents into the eaves to prevent any further nesting activity and finally succeeded in convincing mother dove and her third boyfriend to leave and look for other accommodations. 

The constant cooing of doves in the neighborhood continued for another month, then they were gone.  This spring, we have vowed not to put out the "for rent" sign for any new dove couples looking for a nesting place.

More about White Winged Doves

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