Mourning Dove squabs...

Photo: Jpabello/Shizhao/Wikipedia

MMOURNING DOVEM

Zenaida macroura

Until today, I had never seen a live Mourning Dove squab or even a photograph of one.   But while reading about the plight of Turtle Doves in England and deciding to mention them in a blog, I thought about comparing the British Turtle Doves' drastically declining population with our Mourning Doves in Canada.   I will write about the Turtle Doves in a subsequent blog soon.   Today however, I discovered a photo on Wikipedia of two Mourning Dove squabs.   I was stunned and surprised at the same time to see these remarkable little hairy creatures.   They will grow up to join the other estimated 475 million Mourning Doves in North and Central America.  Because Mourning Doves are so prolific, they easily maintain their populations despite 20 to 70 million of them being shot by hunters every year.   They are rated at "least concern" by the IUCN 'Red List'.   Now, on to the UK's Turtle Doves.
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BarrytheBirder