CreatureData

Mourning dove

Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758)

LCLeast Concernbirds

The mourning dove (Zenaida macroura) is a species in the family Columbidae, order Columbiformes. Recorded adults weigh 115.5 g to 123 g and live up to 19.3 years. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.

Mourning dove (Zenaida macroura)
Photo: Rhododendrites · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts about the mourning dove

Weight
115.5 g – 123 gsrc for Weight
Length
Not recorded
Lifespan
19.3 yearssrc for Lifespan
Diet
Granivoresrc for Diet
Longest recorded lifespan
31.3 years
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
human_modifiedsrc for Habitat
Egg incubation
14.4 dayssrc for Egg incubation
Young per litter or clutch
2src for Young per litter or clutch
Age at maturity
80 days – 4.48 monthssrc for Age at maturity
Litters or clutches a year
4src for Litters or clutches a year
Lifestyle
Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
Migration
Sedentarysrc for Migration
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
Countries on record
Not recorded

Where does the mourning dove live?

Not recorded

What is the mourning dove?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

The mourning dove (Zenaida macroura) is a member of the dove family, Columbidae. The bird is also known as the American mourning dove, the rain dove, and colloquially as the turtle dove, and it was once known as the Carolina pigeon and Carolina turtledove. It is one of the most abundant and widespread North American birds and a popular gamebird, with more than 20 million birds (up to 70 million in some years) shot annually in the U.S., both for sport and meat. Its ability to sustain its population under such pressure is due to its prolific breeding; in warm areas, one pair may raise up to six broods of two young each in a single year. The wings make an unusual whistling sound upon take-off and landing, a form of sonation. The bird is a strong flier, capable of speeds up to 88 km/h (55 mph).

Mourning doves are light gray and brown and generally muted in color. Males and females are similar in appearance. The species is generally monogamous, with two squabs (young) per brood. Both parents incubate and care for the young. Mourning doves eat almost exclusively seeds, but the young are fed crop milk by their parents.

From the Wikipedia article “Mourning dove” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mourning_dove&oldid=1385036170), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.

What does the mourning dove sound like?

Francis C, Ortega C, Cruz A · CC BY 2.5 · Wikimedia Commons

Is the mourning dove endangered?

The mourning dove is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.

  1. LCLeast Concern
  2. NTNear Threatened
  3. VUVulnerable
  4. ENEndangered
  5. CRCritically Endangered
  6. EWExtinct in the Wild
  7. EXExtinct

Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species.

How is the mourning dove classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classAves
  4. orderColumbiformes
  5. familyColumbidae
  6. genusZenaida
  7. SpeciesZenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758)

Synonyms Columba macroura, Zenaidura macroura

Other names and names in other languages (77)
  • American mourning doveEnglish
  • Carolina pigeonEnglish
  • Carolina turtle doveEnglish
  • Long-tailed pea doveEnglish
  • PachiyòsbaAlabama
  • يمام الحدادArabic
  • حمامة الحدادArabic
  • يمام الحداد الأمريكيArabic
  • Плачеща гургулицаBulgarian
  • Turzhunell dristBreton
  • tórtora nord-americanaCatalan
  • ᎫᎴᏗᏍᎪᏂᎯCherokee
  • کۆترەباریکەCentral Kurdish
  • hrdlička karolínskáCzech
  • hrdlička karolinskáCzech
  • colomen alarusWelsh
  • SørgedueDanish
  • CarolinataubeGerman
  • Carolina-TaubeGerman
  • Σφήνουρο ΠεριστέριGreek
  • PlorturtoEsperanto
  • amerika plorkolomboEsperanto
  • Huilota ComúnSpanish
  • FifíSpanish
  • Paloma huilotaSpanish
  • Paloma RabudaSpanish
  • Rola comúnSpanish
  • Tórtola RabicheSpanish
  • Tórtola rabilargaSpanish
  • Zenaida huilotaSpanish
  • händ-ruugetuviEstonian
  • کبوتر بارانPersian
  • vaikertajakyyhkyFinnish
  • HarmadúgvaFaroese
  • Zénaïde tristeFrench
  • tourterelle tristeFrench
  • Fearán gubhachIrish
  • Calmane dobberanManx
  • תורית אמריקניתHebrew
  • תור אמריקניתHebrew
  • dugorepa gugutkaCroatian
  • sirató gerleHungarian
  • Merpati karolinaIndonesian
  • TregadúfaIcelandic
  • MorgundúfaIcelandic
  • SorgardúfaIcelandic
  • tortora luttuosaItalian
  • Tortora americanaItalian
  • ナゲキバトJapanese
  • 우는비둘기Korean
  • niūrioji zenaidaLithuanian
  • həkʷhəkʷlut
  • sēru ūbeleLatvian
  • Америка тыргӓдӹWestern Mari
  • Pvce-howeMuscogee
  • Pvce-hoyvMuscogee
  • Hasbídí łibáhígííNavajo
  • TreurduifDutch
  • OmiimiiOjibwa
  • gołębiak długosternyPolish
  • دکھی کگیWestern Panjabi
  • rola-carpideiraPortuguese
  • Плачущая горлицаRussian
  • LuoibmiduvváNorthern Sami
  • nachovka smútočnáSlovak
  • nachovka dlhochvostáSlovak
  • žalobna grlicaSlovenian
  • жалосна грлицаSerbian
  • Severnoamerička gugutkaSerbian
  • spetsstjärtad duvaSwedish
  • ஆமைப் புறாTamil
  • Uzun Kuyruklu KumruTurkish
  • зенаїда північнаUkrainian
  • Горлиця-плакальницяUkrainian
  • Bồ câu bi aiVietnamese
  • 哀鴿Chinese
  • 哀鸽Chinese

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistTAXREFWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List

Relatives of the mourning dove

Other species in the same genus Zenaida.

NT, Near Threatened

Galápagos dove

Zenaida galapagoensis

ColumbidaeNo free photo yet

LC, Least Concern
Eared dove (Zenaida auriculata)

Eared dove

Zenaida auriculata

Columbidae

EW, Extinct in the Wild
Socorro dove (Zenaida graysoni)

Socorro dove

Zenaida graysoni

Columbidae

CompareMourning dove vs Galápagos doveMourning dove vs Eared doveMourning dove vs Socorro doveMourning dove vs White-winged dove

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

How big is the mourning dove?

An adult mourning dove weighs 115.5 g – 123 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

Is the mourning dove endangered?

The mourning dove is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is not currently at risk of extinction.

How long does the mourning dove live?

The mourning dove has a recorded lifespan of 19.3 years.

What kind of animal is the mourning dove?

The mourning dove (Zenaida macroura) belongs to the family Columbidae in the order Columbiformes.

Sources and how to cite this page

Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). Mourning dove (Zenaida macroura). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/mourning-dove

MLA

“Mourning dove (Zenaida macroura).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/mourning-dove.

BibTeX
@misc{mourning_dove_2026,
  title = {Mourning dove (Zenaida macroura)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/mourning-dove},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}