It's been a minute. And I have a minute to share two interesting encounters I've had with mourning doves this month: one at campus and another in my backyard. It's nice to reconnect with the world through wild birds.
This semester, I have two studio classes back to back on Mondays and Wednesdays, painting and sculpture respectively. Weird things are bound to happen in 6 hours of being in the same building and this was one such day. An otherwise average work day in the sculpture room turned sour when news of a beheaded mallard in the park area near the art building spread to the professor from a BFA student; he exited quickly and I, being the nosy person I am, followed the two to the crime scene. Its body was laid straight and clean, surprisingly so for its death being so violent. It was disposed of and the group left believing the assailant was a dog or a similar-sized animal. Unusual, yes, a story to bring home.
Until, 15 minutes later, a mourning dove entered the sculpture room through the back doors. It circled briefly before slamming into one of the large windows lining that wall. It dropped lifelessly in the corner of the room, where a few students were working at nearby tables or using the sink... except they did nothing but stare like morons. Some serious FLUORIDE STARE shit. I guess they were under the impression that it died on impact, but as I rushed over, I saw it was upright and breathing heavily, so, clearly alive. Professor gloved up and picked it up without issue; I directed him to the sculpture yard for a safe place to set it. When handling an injured bird, it's best to set it in a hidden place with minimal disturbance/noise to let it recover and shield it from predators. I left campus a few hours later and asked professor to take over watching it for me, which he very kindly did.
I returned two days later and to my surprise I was told the dove has not moved much from its spot. Professor seemed concerned that it was going hungry and left water out for it. I would NOT suggest doing what I did here, but I brought a banana as a snack that day and offered to leave a bit of it for the hungry dove. We headed to the yard through his office and it was indeed there, with a shut eye that I assumed was an injury from the collision. I knelt down in view of its open eye and broke off a few small pieces of nana without trying to startle it (tricky). As I was about to rise, it became agitated and... flew to the nearest tree normally! Despite all of that, its awareness, cognition, and physical condition were enough to let it escape us predators. I'm still worried about that dove, but it was a funny bonding experience.
Hearing a mourning dove's calls or seeing them on birdfeeders (dispensaries of their favorite food) are common experiences for North Americans, but seeing a dove nest within a few feet of you is a bit more interesting! The other day, I was in the backyard watching my dad examine a wheelbarrel. Our yard is lined with trees that birds love to nest in, so I watch a lot of common ones perch on the fences, grab materials, or near a water feeder I fill periodically (I forget a lot). A dove was on the fence, but it fluttered to a spot underneath the roof over the porch before shortly returning to the fence; I was like, oh, it's nesting there?! GET THE CAMERA DAD! I approached that spot to see the nest I expected, and was met with a stare from the dove's mate sitting in the nest. I motioned my dad over and he got a glimpse of it before both doves flew outside of the yard. The nest was established if not small, so now I wonder how long the two have been there. I want to leave seeds out for them... am I gonna hear annoying babies soon? (Pictured: The empty nest)
As if that day of class couldn't get any weirder, I saw this bird feasting on another on the ride home... on top of a car wash entrance... what the FLIP happened on that roof...