Turtle Dove
Species: Zenaida macroura
Diet: Omnivore
Origin: North America
Personality: Peaceful
Life Span: It varies, some have lived past 20 years!
Hi, I'm Tammy the Turtle Dove, some people call me a Mourning Dove. I look a lot like a Pigeon, which is a part of my Bird family called Columbidae.
Turtle Doves like me are usually a gray to buff color with small heads, larger bodies and long tails. We can fly really fast and powerfully. We are able to move ourselves through the air quite well.
We also have a soft kind of mournful call that we sing. We like to hang out on electric wires and places like that.
We are a North American Bird species and you can see us all over the place. On a quite day when you're sitting outside, try listening for our call, it sounds like this: wooo wooo, woo, woo, woo.
Here is another Turtle Dove that looks a bit darker than me.
We usually pair up with our mate for life and when we have babies, both mom and dad take care of the babies. We usually have 2 eggs at a time and we can raise up to 12 babies in a year. It takes about two weeks for our babies to grow and then hatch. We feed our babies something called Pigeon Milk. It is a thick substance we regurgitate for the babies, that is high in protein and fat and helps them get stronger.
We eat mostly seeds and when the babies are old enough they eat softer versions of our food.
We live in open areas and around humans, near grassy areas and on the edges of wooded areas.
It varies how long we live for. Some live for only about one and one half years, while others have lived 4-5 years. There is also tell of one Turtle Dove that lived well past 20 years old! How long we live would be affected too by whether we're living in the wild or if we're living with humans in their home.
We eat mostly seeds and when the babies are old enough they eat softer versions of our food.
We live in open areas and around humans, near grassy areas and on the edges of wooded areas.
It varies how long we live for. Some live for only about one and one half years, while others have lived 4-5 years. There is also tell of one Turtle Dove that lived well past 20 years old! How long we live would be affected too by whether we're living in the wild or if we're living with humans in their home.
