Doves are a widespread and recognizable bird known for their small size, stout bodies, plump appearance and gentle nature. While many know of doves from seeing them in parks, backyards and other urban areas, they have a number of unique physical and behavioral characteristics that set them apart from other birds.
Distinctive Physical Features
Doves have a number of distinctive physical features that make them easy to identify:
Small, plump bodies
Doves have small,compact bodies that are plump or rounded overall. Their bodies are generally about 30 cm (12 inches) from head to tail. This gives them a distinctive rounded, stocky appearance compared to many other birds.
Small heads and short, slim beaks
Doves have small heads proportional to their plump bodies. Their beaks are slim and short, tapering to a point at the end. Unlike some birds, a dove’s beak is not strongly hooked or curved.
Short legs
A dove’s legs are short relative to the body and not prominently featured. Their legs tend to be set back on the body rather than under the center of the body like many longer-legged birds. When perched, often only a small part of a dove’s legs extend visibly from the feathers.
Soft plumage
Doves have uniformly soft, dense plumage. Their feathers lack the glossiness seen in some bird species. The most common gray-brown and pink-brown plumage provides camouflage and lacks distinctive patterning like that seen in birds such as ducks, penguins and quail.
Distinctive wing shape
Doves have long, broad wings with a pronounced curve along the rear edge. This gives their wings a distinctive arched shape when outstretched. The wings allow doves to be strong, swift fliers over long distances.
Long tapered tails
Doves have long, tapered tails that come to a distinct point. Their tails have 12 feathers and are typically about half the length of their overall body. The long forked tails assist with in-flight maneuverability and stability.
Unique Vocalizations
Doves have soft, melancholy vocalizations that distinguish them from other birds. Here are some of their notable calls:
Cooing
The most famous dove sound is their gentle, reiterative cooing. It is a soft “coo-OO-oo” repeating in a series of three. This comes from males broadcasting their presence and attracting mates.
Mournful coos
Doves can make a mournful cooing with an owl-like “oo-OO-oo-oo” sound. This is often made when mourning or calling to one another.
Whistling
Some doves can make a whistling call, like the “woo-woo-woo” of a mourning dove. This far-carrying call is another way for doves to signal excitement or stay in contact over distances.
soft clapping
Doves produce clapping sounds by clapping their wings together over their backs. This makes a muffled, hollow sound, and is thought to communicate alarm.
Billing
Doves engage in billing by touching their beaks together. This affectionate behavior is accompanied by soft sounds made by their beaks touching.
Unique Forms of Flight
Doves have unique forms of strong, sustained flight:
Powerful Takeoff
Doves have an impressively powerful vertical takeoff, rapidly beating their wings to launch themselves into the air. This swift takeoff helps them escape threats.
Rapid Wingbeats
In flight, doves have quick, clipped wingbeats that give them a speedy, darting flight pattern. These rapid wingbeats allow them to fly at speeds estimated at up to 55 miles per hour.
Sustained, Far-Ranging Flight
Doves are capable of prolonged, long-distance flight spans. Some races of homing pigeons, a type of dove, have been recorded flying up to 600 miles in a day at speeds around 60 miles per hour.
Aerial Maneuverability
Doves exhibit great aerial agility and dexterity thanks to their tapered wings and tail. They can make quick turns, dives and climbs to evade predators or make rapid course corrections.
Distinct Landing Style
Doves have a distinct slow-flying landing style. As they near the landing spot, their wings make a whistling sound before braking and coming to rest. Rather than perching, doves characteristically land directly on the ground or building surface.
Unique Feeding Habits
Doves have some feeding habits that distinguish them from other birds:
Diet
Doves are primarily granivorous, meaning they eat a diet made up predominantly of seeds and grains. They prefer small seeds and grains of cereal crops, grasses, weeds and other readily available sources.
Ground Feeding
Rather than feeding in trees and bushes, doves prefer to feed on the ground. Their short legs and bills are adapted for feeding on the ground rather than perching.
Suction-like Drinking
Doves have the unique ability to suck up water into their beaks rather than the typical sip-and-tip motion used by most birds. They can suck water into their beaks and allow it to move to the back of the throat by capillary action.
Milk Production
Both male and female doves produce a unique form of nutrient-rich milk in their crops to feed newly hatched chicks. The milk is referred to as crop milk or pigeon milk. This helps ensure healthy dove chicks.
Digestive Physiology
Doves have a thin-walled, muscular gizzard that allows them to digest large quantities of seeds efficiently. Food passes through their digestive tract rapidly, allowing them to eat more seeds per day compared to similar species.
Courtship and Mating
Doves engage in simple, recognizable courtship rituals:
Billing and Bowing
Males will approach females and begin billing, touching their beaks together. The male will then make a bowing motion to show off decorative neck and wing features.
Nest Display
The male dove will lead the female to potential nesting sites, cooing and parading at the site to display ownership and attract her interest.
Mating Flights
Pairs will take short mating flights together, flying in loops and circles while maintaining contact with one another.
Loosely Monogamous
Doves form monogamous pair bonds but will accept new mates over successive breeding seasons rather than mating for life. However, both parents cooperate in raising young.
Ritualized Copulation
Mating involves brief ritualized motions, with the male flapping wings, mounting the female and giving a pelvic thrust before dismounting. This distinguishes their subdued mating from more elaborate copulation in some avian species.
Nesting and Parenting
Doves exhibit simple, low-maintenance nesting and parenting behaviors:
Minimalist Nests
Doves build very simple nests out of small twigs and stems, with little structural support or ornamentation. Their nests are loose platforms of debris placed in trees, shrubs or ledges.
Small Clutch Sizes
Doves lay only 1 or 2 eggs per clutch. The eggs are small and white with a fine texture. Small clutch sizes mean less energy devoted to nesting duties.
Shared Incubation
Both dove parents participate in incubating eggs. They take turns sitting on the nest and sharing egg-warming duties.
Pigeon Milk
Both parents produce crop milk to feed newly hatched chicks. This nutrient-rich substance is regurgitated directly into chick’s mouths until they fledge.
Short Nestling Period
Doves have a short nestling period of about 2 weeks before chicks fledge and leave the nest. This allows parents to repeat nesting efforts multiple times per year.
Solitary Nesting
Unlike colonial nesting birds, dove pairs nest singly, with each pair defending their own territory rather than forming large communal nesting colonies.
Limited Parental Care
Parental care is relatively limited compared to many bird species. Doves do not feed or actively defend fledglings, who are independent upon leaving the nest.
Unique Evolutionary Traits
Doves possess some evolutionary adaptations that aid their survival:
Waterproof Plumage
Oils in dove feathers provide effective waterproofing. This allows them to float buoyantly on water rather than becoming waterlogged if they land on the water’s surface.
Mineralized Bones
Dove bones contain a higher mineral content than those of other birds, making their skeletons denser and stronger relative to their body weight. This aids their powerful flight.
Advanced Aerodynamics
Subtle details of a dove’s wing structure and flight feather shape give them advanced aerodynamic qualities that improve efficiency in flight. These adaptations aid their migratory abilities.
Refined Homing Ability
Doves, particularly homing pigeons, have sophisticated navigation and homing capabilities allowing them to return to nest sites from great distances even when displaced. Sensory mechanisms like detecting magnetic fields aid this.
Symbiotic Digestion
Doves benefit from symbiotic bacteria in their digestive organs that produce nutrients and aid the breakdown of food material in their diet. This symbiosis aids efficient utilization of seed food sources.
Parasite Resistance
Doves show evidence of enhanced immune function and abilities to withstand parasitic infestations compared to other closely related bird groups. This improves health outcomes for doves exposed to parasites.
Behavioral Traits
Doves exhibit some notable behavioral traits:
Docile and Skittish Temperament
Doves are passive, gentle birds that are easily flushed or startled by threats. Their first instinct is to flee rather than fight when encountering predators or disturbance.
Gregarious Flocking
Doves tend to gather in large flocks that provide shared vigilance against predators. When not breeding, they form large foraging and roosting aggregations.
Rapid Flight Departure
Doves frightened from their perch will take flight rapidly with a noisy clapping of their wings. When one dove takes flight, others in proximity typically follow.
Drinking through Suction
Doves sip by sucking up water, allowing efficient water drinking without needing to tilt the head back. This helps them stay alert while drinking in exposed areas.
Billing and Cooing Displays
Mated pairs engage in affectionate billing and synchronized cooing that help maintain the pair bond. These displays also help defend the territory.
Seasonal Monogamy
Doves form seasonally monogamous pair bonds during breeding season. Pairs cooperate to build nests, raise young and defend territories before separating in winter flocks.
Ritualized Dominance
Doves show subtler ritualized aggression and dominance behaviors compared to more overt displays in aggressive bird species. This helps reduce energy costs of conflict.
Symbolism Associated with Doves
Doves are culturally symbolic birds that represent:
Peace
The dove’s gentleness and lack of aggression led to its association with peace in many cultures and faiths. Images like the dove returning to Noah’s ark with an olive branch represent peace.
Love
Billing and cooing behaviors reinforce the dove’s link to romance and enduring love in symbolic and artistic depictions of the birds.
Fidelity
Their seasonally monogamous breeding behaviors reinforce associations between doves and fidelity or loyalty toward partners.
Sacrifice
In some cultures, doves were sacrificed ritually or their blood used symbolically, connecting them with sacrificial themes.
Holy Spirit
In Christianity, the dove is used to represent the Holy Spirit and divine grace. Jesus’s baptism features the Holy Spirit descending to him like a dove.
Messengers
Doves transported messages on papyrus tied to their feet in the ancient Middle East. This gave rise to the idea of doves as blessed messengers across cultures.
Beauty
The dove’s pleasant appearance has led to its association with beauty, especially alongside symbols of love or peace. Picasso’s lithograph La Colombe is an example.
Conclusion
In summary, doves exhibit a number of unique physical qualities, behaviors, vocalizations, flight capabilities, breeding habits, evolutionary adaptations and symbolic associations that distinguish them from other bird groups. Their diminutive size, rounded shape, soft plumage and cooing help identify them. Behaviorally, they are passive birds that form seasonal pair bonds and exhibit charming courtship rituals and displays. Doves are also symbolically meaningful as messengers of peace, love, fidelity and holy grace across cultures and faiths. Understanding their biology and symbolism provides deeper insight into these gentle, nurturing birds.
