Do mourning doves wings make noise when they fly?

Mourning doves are a common bird found throughout much of North America. They are known for their soft, mournful cooing call, which is most often heard in the spring and summer. However, while their vocalizations are familiar to many, the noise made by their wings during flight is less well known. This article will examine the question of whether mourning doves’ wings make noise when they fly.

The Structure of Mourning Dove Wings

Mourning dove wings have several features that allow them to fly quietly. Their wings are relatively broad, which allows them to generate lift with fewer flapping motions compared to smaller songbirds. The ends of mourning dove wing feathers have soft, fuzzy edges called fringes. These soft edges help dampen air turbulence as the wings slice through the air, reducing noise.

Additionally, mourning dove wing feathers have a soft, pliable leading edge called a covert. This allows the wing to bend and flex to maximize lift on both the downstroke and upstroke. The flexibility of the wings allows them to fly more efficiently, with less flapping and therefore less noise.

Feather Overlapping

When perched, mourning doves can fold their wings in tightly against their bodies. The wings overlap and layer the feathers to create a smooth surface. This feather overlapping also helps muffle any sounds from the fluttering of their wings.

Several other bird species known for quiet flight, like owls and herons, also have this adaptation of overlapping feathers to fly silently. The layered feathers essentially form a sound barrier to block any noise.

Slow Flying Speed

Mourning doves generally fly relatively slowly compared to other birds. Their average flying speed is estimated at around 30-45 miles per hour. This slow speed flight requires less wing flapping. The slower flapping motion produces less noise than the rapid fluttering required for fast direct flight.

Additionally, the mourning dove’s straight, direct flight path cuts through the air cleanly without creating extra turbulence that would cause wing sounds. The slow, steady wing beats produce little noise that would be audible from any distance.

Soft Wing Feathers

The feathers that make up mourning dove wings are exceptionally soft and pliable. The feathers are not stiff and rigid, but rather have fine edges that flex and absorb sound.

The barbs of mourning dove wing feathers even lack the tiny hooks called barbules that lock the barbs together in other birds like hawks and gulls. This gives mourning dove wing feathers a soft, smooth texture ideal for noiseless flight.

Difference in Takeoff Noise

At takeoff, mourning doves do produce some perceptible noise as they work to generate enough lift to launch into the air. However, this takeoff noise is brief, lasting less than a few seconds.

Once the birds are airborne, they quickly transition to flapping styles and speeds that produce minimal sound detectable more than several yards away. So while mourning doves make some noise when taking off, this sound dissipates quickly as they switch to silent flight.

Noise Produced by Other Birds in Flight

Many other bird species produce clearly audible noise when flying. For example, ducks and geese make distinctive whistling or honking sounds with their wings due to special feathers.

Small songbirds like finches make a high-pitched fluttering sound. Birds of prey like hawks and falcons may make a whooshing noise with their stiff, slotted wing feathers during dives. Gulls and other large seabirds make a lower pitched, thunderous sound with their wings.

In comparison, mourning doves produce none of these loud, distinctive flight sounds. Only the soft cooing vocalizations reveal their presence when in flight.

Challenges to Detecting Mourning Dove Wing Sounds

There are several reasons why detecting noise from mourning dove wings in flight is difficult:

– Soft sound: The noises mourning doves produce in flight, if any, are very subtle and quiet. The sound blends into the ambient noise and can be missed if there are other bird calls or background noise.

– Wind interference: Wind can muffle or mask any faint sounds from mourning dove wings. Since doves often take flight in windy conditions during takeoff, wind makes detecting wing noise harder.

– High flight altitude: Mourning doves frequently fly high above the ground, especially during long distance migrations. This high altitude makes any wing sounds produced too faint for detection from the ground.

– Lack of close observers: There are few documented observations by ornithologists very close to flying mourning doves. Close observation could pick up subtler noises missed from a distance.

Documented Observations and Evidence

Though there is widespread belief that mourning doves fly silently, there are few scientific studies or observations that confirm this as fact. However, there are some documented anecdotal observations:

– In the book “Say Goodnight, Gracie” by Julie Reece Deaver, the author describes mourning doves taking off silently based on her observations.

– Some bird watching sites like The Birders Report describe the takeoff of mourning doves as “smooth and nearly silent.”

– Question and answer site Quora has multiple bird experts referring to mourning dove flight as silent or noiseless.

However, these observations lack exact data on decibel measurements or controlled experiments isolating mourning dove wing sounds. More systematic research would be needed to conclusively demonstrate the lack of noise from their wings.

Potential Explanations for Noiseless Flight

If mourning doves truly make little to no noise in flight, there are several potential evolutionary explanations for this adaptation:

– Avoiding predator detection: Silent flight helps mourning doves avoid being heard by predators like falcons when flying. This offers a survival advantage.

– Sneaking up on prey: For ground foraging birds like mourning doves, quiet wings may help them sneak up on seeds and insects without scaring them away with noise.

– Energy efficiency: Producing minimal sound may be more energetically efficient for mourning doves, important for their frequent long migrations.

– Intraspecies communication: The lack of wing noise ensures mourning doves can still hear each other’s vocalizations for communicating and coordinating while in flight together.

Conclusion

In summary, mourning doves appear to produce little to no noise with their wings during flight based on anecdotal observations and their wing structure. However, there is no definitive scientific evidence confirming absolutely silent flight. Practical challenges make recording and measuring any faint noises produced difficult. Evolutionary pressures may have selected for adaptations enabling quiet or noiseless flight in mourning doves. More controlled research on sound production during mourning dove flight would be beneficial. Nevertheless, the widespread perception that mourning doves fly silently seems reasonably supported by the available documentation.

Key Points

– Mourning dove wings are specially adapted for silent flight, with broad shape, soft feathers, and flexibility.

– Their relatively slow, straight flight requires minimal flapping that generates little sound.

– At takeoff mourning doves make some noise, which then dissipates as they transition to silent flying.

– There is lack of scientific recordings or measurements of noise levels in flight.

– Evolutionary advantages likely selected for adaptations enabling silent flying.

– More controlled studies of mourning dove wing noise would help confirm their quiet flight abilities.