How Long Do Doves Live? Amaze-wing Lifespan Facts For Kids

Mourning doves are North American birds that many people adore.

Male and female mourning doves mate for life; that is why they are a symbol of eternal love. Find out more amazing facts about doves with us.

There is an abundant population of mourning doves in North America. You will find several species of doves flying around enjoying their best life. The lifespan of doves is dependent on a number of factors. We are going to visit all of those in detail in this article.

Populations of mourning doves are facing a decrease. Their lifespans are getting shorter and shorter due to disease, uncontrolled hunting, and lack of open spaces to fly. We, humans, should help them out by setting up bird feeders outside our houses to help the mourning dove species easily find food. Don't forget to include a bowl of water along with food.

Now let's dive into the world of mourning doves and find all the facts we can about the conservation of the population of these wild birds. To know more about birds, you may also read why do birds sing and how long do ducks live.

What are different dove species and their lifespans?

There are millions of doves residing in North American regions. Several different species have established their habitats in many areas. They choose regions that are abundant in wildlife. Even with millions of doves still living around the world, there are some species that are threatened with extinction.

Mourning doves are dying due to habitat loss, diseases, and even hunting. Conservation of these species has become very important. Every species is equally important to the ecosystem. Different species of doves have different lifespans. Let's take a look at some of the popular species of doves in the world.

The lifespan of doves is dependent on the species they belong to. Different mourning dove species have different lifespans. Some of the common dove species along with their lifespans are as below.

Common Bronzewing doves live for 25 years. Half-collared doves live for three years. European wood pigeons live for three years. Inca doves live for two to seven years. Diamond doves live for 10 years. Indian ring-neck doves live for 10-15 years. Fruit-dove doves live for 4-12 years. Key west quail doves live for 4.2 years. Galápagos doves live for 3.3 years. Laughing doves live for 5-10 years. Eared doves live for 1.5 years. Chinese spotted doves live for 7.5 years. Golden heart doves live for 5.5 years. Luzon bleeding-heart doves live for 15 years. Common Mexican ground doves live for 7.2 years. White-winged doves live for 10-15 years. Grenada doves live for 7.2 years. Emerald doves live for 10-15 years. Greenwing doves live for six years. Crimson-crowned Fruit doves live for four years. Grey-fronted doves live for two to four years. Eurasian collared doves live for 10 years. Grey-headed doves live for three years. Grey doves live for 1.5 years.

The above-mentioned figures are the average lifespans of the bird species. In reality, the life expectancy of doves can be less or more. Many records show that doves living in captivity live longer than doves living in the wild.

How long do doves live in captivity?

The natural habitat of doves consists of woods, gardens, buildings, and trees. They are not really wildlife. Doves love to live near human settlements due to the abundance of feeders. Doves feed on a variety of foods out in nature including nuts, fruits, roots, worms, and insects. Getting good food has really become difficult for doves nowadays. It might not sound like much of a concern but the decreasing number of doves tells us that it is. Doves can die of old age, disease, hunger, and when hunted by predators.

If you consider most dove species in the world, you will find that doves' lifespans lie in the range of 1-20 years. All these averages are recorded from observations made of doves living in their natural habitat. But the lifespans of doves living in captivity are not considered. It has been often found that birds living in captivity live longer lives than those living in the wild. Some birds in captivity even cross the maximum age their species is supposed to attain.

It all depends on the habits of bird owners. If taken good care of and fed proper crop, birds can live a longer and healthier life. The crop fed to birds in captivity should be of good quality and devoid of any infestation. So even though the age range of birds is 1-20 years, most doves in captivity live longer than their average expected lifespans. If you are not sure how to help doves live longer, you can always call the vet for guidance on their lifestyle and necessary feed.

How To Tell How Old A Dove Is

Determining the age of your pet is always a tricky task, especially if you haven't had them since birth. Ages of different wildlife are hard to predict, but there are always signs to look for. Remember you cannot use the same technique to tell the age of all your pets.

That means the technique you used to determine the age of your cat will not be applicable when telling the age of your dove. People want to know their pet's age for a number of reasons. Some just want to know if their pets are really as old as they think, while some might want to know their mourning dove's current life stage.

Mourning doves have four types of feathers. Each of them has a special function. These birds' feathers are known as pin feathers, primary feathers, primary covert feathers, and secondary covert feathers. These feathers in doves are a marker for determining their age. A newborn mourning dove does not have any feathers for at least four days. From the fourth day, the young bird starts showing pin feathers. Pin feathers just look like the foundation of actual feathers. Only newborn doves up to 15 days old and old age mourning doves have pin feathers. A baby mourning dove that has developed all its feathers but is still in the nest in trees has to be between the age of 15-45 days. Baby doves have smooth color margins on their feathers. In the case of adult mourning doves, the colors on the feathers are frayed with no distinct or very faint margins. In the conservation of mourning doves, determining their age is a primary factor in delivering necessary care.

How long do baby doves stay in the nest?

Mourning doves mate throughout the year. Their breeding seasons are scattered around the year. It is known that doves can produce up to six broods in a year. This might make it sound like the conservation of wildlife is unnecessary, but this is certainly not the case.

Females of most dove species lay two eggs per breeding season. The bird species will build new nests for new eggs and raise young chicks. Mourning dove nests are very commonly attacked by predators. That is why mourning dove birds try to hide them in trees.

There is no specific breeding season for doves. They mate throughout the year, depending on the climate of their surroundings. Female doves lay eggs in newly made nests. Both the males and females contribute to the incubation of the eggs. The incubation period for a mourning dove's eggs is usually two weeks. The newly hatched baby doves do not have any feathers. A young mourning dove bird is also not capable of feeding itself.

That is why their mothers and fathers collect food for feeding their young. Baby doves call for their mother's help until they are ready to leave the nest. They are ready to fly from their nests at least 10-15 days before they fully develop their primary feathers, which are also known as flight feathers. This range can vary from species to species. Even though baby doves leave their nests, they stay nearby for at least two more weeks. During this period, the father dove bird brings food to his babies.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly facts for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for 'How long do doves live?' then why not take a look at 'Where do birds go when it rains?', or 'Inca dove facts'.