Mourning Dove Animal Symbolism
All of nature teaches us something and like other animals, we can learn from the mourning dove animal symbolism. Among other things, when we see a mourning dove, we are reminded to have hope and seek peace.
Mourning doves live in open and semi-open habitats and forage on the ground. Sometimes they perch on plants to gather seeds. They eat 12-20 percent of their body weight daily. This is comprised of thousands of seeds which they store in their “crop” (an enlarged part of their esophagus). They frequently eat grit to help them digest seeds. Mourning doves eat a bunch of seeds and then fly off to their nest to digest them while resting.
These birds fly fast and bullet straight and often fly in threes in a tight formation. The lead bird is the mated male. The second is an unmated rival male chasing the mated male from the area. The third is the female that is mated to the lead male.
Mourning doves usually live about a year, but if they survive the first year, they’ll live to be 4-5 years old in the wild. The oldest mourning dove recorded was a male age 30 years that was tagged and tracked.
Mating and Nesting
Mourning doves are prolific. They are the most populous bird in the US and Canada and down to Mexico. They are also the most hunted. Mourning doves raise up to 6 broods per year in warm climates (usually two eggs at a time), They produce more broods than any other native bird. Unlike cardinals which generally pair of life, mourning doves pair up for a season and sometimes in following seasons.
The male leads the female to a selection of nesting sites in trees or shrubs and sometimes on the ground. The female has the final say on the location. The male brings the materials and the female builds a flimsy nest. Mourning doves are known to abandon their nests – eggs or young if human or animal predators are near.
Both parents feed the young “pigeon milk” – a food they create with their glands in the crop. Usually the male takes a daytime shift sitting on the eggs and the female takes the night shift. They feed and teach their young for a short time after the young leave the nest.
Hawks, falcons, racoons, opossums, cats, grackles, snakes and crows are all predators for mourning doves.
In the south, mourning doves don’t migrate. In more central and northern regions they will migrate.
Mourning Dove Symbolism (Animal Totem)
In the Bible, doves represent the Holy Spirit … the messenger from God that testified that Jesus was the Messiah. The Holy Spirit is also the Comforter; thus the dove represents peace. For Noah, when the dove returned carrying an olive leaf, there was hope for mankind that the floods had receded. They could emerge from the ark.
Native Americans listened for mourning doves to lead them to water sources. This was a hopeful experience of good things ahead. Thus, the mourning dove represents having hope that refreshment and relief is ahead of you.
Lessons from Mourning Dove Animal Symbolism
- Stay Connected to Mother Earth – Mourning doves feed from the ground, reminding us to stay connected to the earth.
- Seek God’s Peace and Hope – the mourning dove reminds us to look to God for comfort and live in harmony with His Spirit.
- Connect with the Divine – mourning doves have a supernatural, spiritual messenger symbolism that reminds us to lean into our connection to the Divine and to see God’s hand in all of creation.
- Determination and Focus – the mourning dove’s straight and swift flight can remind us to move with determination and focus.
- Life Goes On – the mournful call of this bird reminds us that when we suffer loss and have cause to grieve, it’s important to process that grief, let it out, and then move on with life looking to the next adventure. Even when a predator drives them from their nest, they build another nest, and have another brood. Life goes on.
