Have you ever wondered if the Mourning Dove you Greetings Birders Have you ever wondered if the Mourning Dove you were watcing through your binoculars or scope was a male or female? When I was banding birds for the U.S.F. & W. Service in the 1957-1998 time slot I was sent a phamplet from the U. S. Department of the Interior with this information:
"Sex of adult Mourning Doves can be deter1mined by two main characteristics: color of crown and nape, and color of throat and breast. An area on the head of adult male doves, which includes the crown and nape, is blue or blue-gray; the corresponding area of an adult female dove is brown or grayish brown. Blankenship states that male doves normally have a disrinctive brown border in front and alongside the blue-gray crown patch. The breast and throat area of adult males is washed with a pinkish or rosy hue, while the same area on adult females is tan. Females may occasionally have a tinge of pink on the breast but still possess other disinctive female plumage characteristics." Rev. Forest V. Strnad Faribault, MN. ---- Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
