The "Not so Empty Nest" Syndrome

Mama Dove is on her second nesting of this season.  The pair of doves chose to reuse the same nest as earlier this spring.  It is located on the jasmine/rose arbor above the front gate.  If I so desired, I could reach up an touch the nest without a problem.  It is that close to the most used gate on the hillside.  Perhaps she feels protected there or perhaps this pair of doves are just a tad lazy in their nest-building chores.  This is the same dove that had a near disaster during her first nesting period when a large limb from a nearby Black Gum tree boinked her on the noggin.  Her babies were knocked to the ground during a freak storm that was nigh on Tropical Storm strength.  Mama Dove was not concerned that Ms. Ez and I rescued the little ones and took them inside while she recovered.  Once they were replaced in the nest, Mr. and Mrs. Dove raised them to maturity.  That is when she renested atop the arbor once again.  I was really surprised to see that this time, Mama Dove laid three eggs.  This is almost unheard of in the avian world!  Two eggs are normally the limit with each nesting.  It behooved me to watch  this nest closely!  I pondered if all three eggs would hatch and would Mama Dove be able to raise an extra babe to maturity.

My concerns about the number of eggs in the nest was brought to a screeching halt when one morning a couple of weeks ago, I found an intact dove's egg on the ground.  I am still a bit unsure if the egg accidentally fell from the poorly constructed nest or if the parent birds tossed it.  Either way, the concern about Papa and Mama Dove being able to produce enough "pigeon milk" for the babes was no more.  (Doves are among a particular group of birds that exclusively feed their young pigeon milk or crop milk.  This is a secretion that is more or less regurgitated food.  It is high in protein and fat so the little ones grow fast.)  Mama Dove hatched the remaining two eggs and the adult pair, once again, busied themselves feeding the fast-growing chicks.  Within a matter of two weeks, the squabs are now almost as large as the parent birds!  This evening when I checked on my friends, I noticed Mama Dove was sitting beside the nest.  The two teenagers were filling the small twig mat to capacity!   These two should be flying in a few days but in the meantime, it is a tight fit for three birds in one nest!

Now, I am a tad curious to see if this pair of Mourning Doves will nest for a third time.  If they do, will they decide to use the same nest again?  The pair has been nesting in the same spot now for three years and could very well surprise me with yet another pair of youngsters this summer.  The security of being close to the house or having a ready babysitter/protector of the squabs might be the enticement to nest in the sames spot.  Either way, I am glad that I get to document their family time!