White-winged dove facts for kids
Quick facts for kids White-winged dove |
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| Perching on a saguaro cactus in Tucson, Arizona | |
| Conservation status | |
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| Genus: |
Zenaida
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| Species: |
asiatica
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| Purple : Year-round Orange : Breeding Blue : Nonbreeding |
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| Synonyms | |
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The white-winged dove (Zenaida asiatica) is a type of dove found in the Southwestern United States, Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean. These doves are quite large. You can easily spot them by the clear white edge on their wings. They also have a blue ring around their eyes and bright red eyes. Their feathers are usually brownish-gray. Young doves are not as colorful and have brown eyes. Their call sounds like the English phrase "who cooks for you."
White-winged doves live in many different places. These include deserts, bushy areas, and even cities. They mostly eat seeds and grains. But they also like pollen and nectar, especially from the saguaro cactus. This cactus is a very important source of water for them.
Humans have changed where white-winged doves live. Long ago, these doves lived mostly where saguaro cacti grew. When farming started in North America, it gave the doves more food. This helped them spread to new areas. Now, some groups of doves travel to different places during the year. In the past, they nested in huge groups. But many of these groups are gone because of human actions and weather changes. Now, most doves nest alone. People also hunt them for sport. The white-winged dove is the second most hunted bird in the United States. Their numbers dropped a lot in the 1960s and 1970s. This was likely because they lost their big nesting areas. But their population grew back. Even with less habitat and continued hunting, they have learned to live well near people. The International Union for the Conservation of Nature says they are a species of least concern. This means they are not in danger of disappearing.
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About the White-Winged Dove
The white-winged dove is one of 14 types of doves found in North America. These doves first appeared in South America. Then, they spread into Central and North America.
The Zenaida group of doves was named after Zénaïde Laetitia Julie Princesse Bonaparte. She was the wife of a French scientist named Charles Lucien Bonaparte. The name asiatica means "from Asia." But this was a mistake. It was meant to refer to Jamaica, which is in the West Indies.
Types of White-Winged Doves
There are three main types, or subspecies, of the white-winged dove:
- Z. a. asiatica (Linnaeus, 1758) – This type lives in the southern US, Nicaragua, and the West Indies.
- Z. a. australis (Peters, 1913) – This type lives in western Costa Rica and western Panama. It is smaller and browner than the first type. Australis means "southern" in Latin.
- Z. a. mearnsi (Ridgway, 1915) – This type lives in the southwestern US and western Mexico. It is larger and grayer. It is named after Edgar Alexander Mearns, an American bird expert.
Doves from the eastern areas tend to be paler and grayer. Doves from the southern areas are browner and darker. The largest doves are found in central Mexico and Texas. The smallest ones are in southern Mexico and Central America.
What White-Winged Doves Look Like
White-winged doves are plump, medium-sized birds. They are about 29 centimeters (11.4 inches) long. They weigh around 150 grams (5.3 ounces). Their wings can spread from 48 to 58 centimeters (18.9 to 22.8 inches). Their upper feathers are brownish-gray, and their lower feathers are gray. They have a bright white patch on their wings. This patch looks like a bright white crescent when they fly. You can also see it when they are resting.
Adult doves have a ring of blue skin around each eye. They also have a dark mark on their lower face. Their eyes are bright red. Young doves have brown eyes. They are duller and grayer than adults. It is hard to tell male and female doves apart just by looking at them. Males might have a bit more purple color on their heads and necks.
The white-winged dove's most special feature is the white edge on its wings. Other similar doves do not have this. It looks a bit like the mourning dove. But the white-winged dove is larger and heavier. It has a short, round tail. The mourning dove has a long, pointed tail. The mourning dove also has black spots on its wings, which the white-winged dove does not.
How White-Winged Doves Call
The call of the white-winged dove sounds like hhhHEPEP pou poooo. Some people say it sounds like "who cooks for you." They also make a pep pair pooa paair pooa paair pooa call. Male doves sit on special spots to make their "cooing" calls. They call most often during the breeding season, especially in May and June. Most calls happen just before sunrise or in the late afternoon. Female doves make a softer call. Doves use their calls to find a mate and to protect their area. They might use a shorter song to stay close to their mate. Young doves can make noises when they are only two days old. By five days old, they can whistle to ask for food.
When they take off, their wings make a whistling sound. This is like the mourning dove, but quieter. Their wing beats are heavy, like other pigeons.
Where White-Winged Doves Live
Some white-winged doves travel to different places. They spend the winter in Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean. In Texas, they live there all year round. In 2001, over a million doves lived in San Antonio, Texas, all year. White-winged doves live in bushy areas, forests, deserts, cities, and farms. They are now found much farther north. They visit most of the United States and parts of southern Canada.
Because of more cities and backyard bird feeders, they have spread across Texas. They are now in Oklahoma, Louisiana, and coastal Mississippi. They have also been brought to Florida. White-winged doves are moving into Kansas, Arkansas, and northern New Mexico. They have even been seen as far north as Canada and Alaska.
They usually nest in small numbers in the desert. But they gather in large groups near rivers and streams. These large nesting groups can be very big. Outside of these groups, there are fewer than 10 nests per hectare. But inside the groups, there can be 500 to 1,000 nests per hectare.
Long ago, before much farming, they might not have been common in the US. This is because old records and fossils don't show many of them. Their presence in California is likely new. It happened after the Salton Sea was filled with water around 1900. Historically, these doves relied heavily on the saguaro cactus for food and water. Modern farming has given them more food, helping them spread. Cities also tend to be warmer, which helps them live in colder northern areas.
White-winged doves usually arrive in Arizona in March. In California, they arrive in April and leave by August. In Texas, they arrive from April to June and leave from September to October. Traveling groups can have up to 4,000 doves, but usually fewer than 50. Weather, food, and hunting can change when they travel. As their numbers grow in Texas, fewer doves are traveling. About one-third of them now stay in Texas for the winter.
White-Winged Dove Behavior and Life Cycle
Normally, up to 4,000 birds travel together. But in Texas, a group of up to a million birds was once seen. White-winged doves can fly 25 miles or more to find water. They can also get all the water they need from saguaro cactus fruit.
Reproduction and Nesting
To attract females, male doves fly in circles with their tails spread and wings raised. They also fan their tails or coo. Males may fight other males to protect their area. Both male and female doves work together to raise their young.
The white-winged dove builds a simple stick nest in a tree. They lay two cream-colored or white eggs. Often, one chick hatches first and is stronger. This chick will ask for most of the food from the parents. A young dove can start nesting as early as 2–3 months after leaving its own nest. They nest as long as there is enough food and warmth for the young. In Texas, they nest until late August. Families often stay together for life. They perch and look for food together. They come back to the same nesting spot every year. Sometimes, they even rebuild their nest in the exact same place.
They have better success nesting in mesquite or tamarix trees. They breed twice in the summer. The busiest breeding times are from May to June and July to August. Eggs are small compared to the dove's body size. This is because white-winged doves put more energy into feeding their young after they hatch. Males stay on the nest for most of the day. They leave to find food in the morning and late afternoon. Females watch the nest at night, and the male rests nearby. Young doves start to grow feathers by seven days old. By early September, most adult doves have started to fly south. The young doves leave soon after.
What White-Winged Doves Eat
White-winged doves eat many kinds of seeds, grains, and fruits. Doves in the western areas fly to the Sonoran Desert to breed when it's hottest. They eat pollen and nectar there. Later, they eat the fruits and seeds of the saguaro cactus. They also visit bird feeders and eat seeds that fall on the ground. Unlike mourning doves, they can eat corn and wheat right off the plant. These doves can sometimes be a problem for farmers. They can gather in large groups and eat crops.
White-winged doves have been seen helping each other find food. In Texas, some doves shook seeds from a Chinese tallow tree for others on the ground. Doves might help spread the invasive Chinese tallow tree by eating its seeds and then pooping them out.
Farm fields, especially grain fields, are a big source of food. But these foods have less protein. This can affect how healthy the young doves are. It is important for them to have access to many native seeds. This helps make sure the young doves grow up strong. This is even more important because white-winged doves do not eat insects when raising their young. Many other grain-eating birds do.
How White-Winged Doves Survive
White-winged doves face predators like foxes, bobcats, snakes, and coyotes. Owls and hawks hunt them from the sky. Pet cats and dogs also catch doves.
The oldest wild white-winged dove found lived for 21 years and 9 months. But most live for about 10 to 15 years. In zoos, they have lived up to 25 years.
White-Winged Doves and People
White-winged doves are popular birds for hunting. They are the only North American game bird that also helps pollinate plants. Hunting of these doves was highest in the late 1960s. About 740,000 birds were hunted each year in Arizona. This number has dropped. In 2011, 1.6 million doves were hunted across the US. Texas accounted for 1.3 million of these. Most of the hunted birds are young doves.
They are also popular with birdwatchers and photographers. Many people put out food and water in their backyards to attract them.
The song "Edge of Seventeen" by Stevie Nicks mentions a white-winged dove.
White-Winged Dove Population Status
The United States Fish and Wildlife Service tracks these doves. The US population was highest in 1968. But it dropped quickly in the 1970s. This was likely due to losing large nesting areas. Habitat was destroyed, farming changed, and too many birds were hunted. The population has continued to decline even with stricter hunting laws. Their numbers and range in Arizona have shrunk. But their range continues to grow in Texas. Even though it's the second most hunted bird in the US, not much research is done on them.
Lead poisoning is a big risk for white-winged doves, especially in hunting areas. A study in Texas in 2010 found that 66% of doves had high lead levels. Birds that eat lead shot can die in just two days.
Climate change is expected to make their range expand north. But it also brings more droughts and fires, which destroy their homes. Spring heatwaves can also kill young doves in their nests.
Large nesting sites in Mexico have been lost. This happened because land was cleared for farms or cities. Extreme weather like droughts and hurricanes also caused problems. Over-hunting was another reason. The dove population in Mexico followed the same trend as in the US. In the 1970s, there were only a million birds in northeastern Mexico. This grew to 16 million in the 1980s, but then dropped to five million in 2007. Losing their habitat is a big worry for this species. This is because they like to return to the same large nesting groups each year. Because of these ongoing problems, most large nesting groups are now gone. They are not expected to come back.
Despite these challenges, the white-winged dove has shown it can adapt to human changes. The International Union for the Conservation of Nature considers it a species of least concern.
Gallery
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Showing off a slightly more purple color
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Closeup showing the distinctive red eye and blue eye ring
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A dove eating seed from the ground
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The white wing patch becomes a stripe when the wing is extended
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A dove on its nest with two chicks in Puerto Rico
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A young white-winged dove in a tree
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A picture showing many doves in a tree
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A dove eating from its favorite food, a saguaro fruit
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See also
In Spanish: Tórtola aliblanca para niños
