Measurements
Both Sexes
Other Names
- Tourterelle à ailes blanches (French)
- Las palomas de alas blancas (Spanish)
Cool Facts
- Although the White-winged Dove is mostly resident in the Southwest, it is expanding its range, and individuals can be found far afield. White-winged Doves have been seen from Alaska to Ontario, Maine, Newfoundland, and most places inbetween.
Habitat
Open Woodland
White-winged Doves live in dense woodlands and brush with thick canopies such as oak, citrus, ash, and elm, or in urban areas (including large cities) where they gravitate toward large shade trees. Cleared lands for agriculture or other developments are less attractive.
Food
Seeds
White-winged Doves forage in flocks looking for seeds and fruit. A large part of the diet consists of domestic grain, though this species readily eats food that cannot be reached from the ground, including corn and sunflower plants as well as visiting elevated bird feeders. In desert climes, the White-winged Dove eats nectar, pollen, and cactus fruit. Like many birds, it also swallows small stones, which help with digestion, and snail shell or bone fragments, which provide calcium.
Nesting
Nesting Facts
- Clutch Size
- 2 eggs
- Number of Broods
- 1-2 broods
- Egg Length
- 1.2–1.3 in
3–3.2 cm - Egg Width
- 0.7–0.9 in
1.9–2.3 cm - Incubation Period
- 15–20 days
- Nestling Period
- 13–18 days
- Egg Description
- creamy white
- Condition at Hatching
- Naked except for long buffy or whitish down feathers, eyes closed
Nest Description
Both sexes help in building the nest, which is a shallow, concave platform. The nest is most often unlined and made almost entirely of twigs. Weeds, grasses, or mosses are sometimes used as well. The female stations herself at the nest site while the male brings her twigs one at a time. The male thoroughly examines each twig, often discarding many before bringing the final choice to his mate, who then places the material.
Nest Placement
Tree
Females select nest sites within their mate's territory, looking inside tree holes or between branches for a place with plenty of shade, cover, and a sturdy foundation. White-winged Doves often nest in groups, sometimes as close as a foot apart and including as many as 500 pairs.
Behavior
Ground Forager
The White-winged Dove walks when on the ground or on branches, and flies both quietly and swiftly. It jerks its tail when feeling nervous or territorial. The White-winged Dove is one of many birds that may lure predators away from the nest by pretending it has a broken wing. While some individuals are solitary, others are gregarious, especially at feeding and watering sites.
Conservation
Least Concern
White-winged Dove populations seem fairly secure despite pressure from hunting and habitat loss. Overhunting in the early and middle twentieth century may have caused a decline of up to 90 percent in Texas, but bag limits were reduced and by 2001 the population had climbed to more than 2.2 million. This species' woodland nesting habit has been largely converted to agricultural uses, particularly in Texas, but this threat has been somewhat offset by the species' ability to colonize urban and suburban areas, and the species now occurs farther north than it historically did. White-winged Doves eat grain and may be affected by pesticide residues or contamination from fungal toxins, although these have not been fully evaluated. According to NatureServe, breeding populations are of particular concern in Utah.
Credits
- Schwertner, T. W., H. A. Mathewson, J. A. Roberson, M. Small, and G. L. Waggerman. 2002. White-winged Dove (Zenaida asiatica). In The Birds of North America, No. 710 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia, PA.