My visit and some 77 photographs later of this lovely young Mourning Dove came to a close with this yawn.

Mourning Doves are beautiful songbirds, the males are grey with hints of purple-pink along both sides of their neck and a pinkish hue to their breast. The males also have a distinct bluish-grey crown. The females are more brown tones in their colouration. The adults grow to about 12 inches in length. They get their name from the soulful and mournful call most often made by the males, a plaintive woo- oo -oo- oo. These birds can fly up to 55 mph, and are the leading game bird, with up to 70 million taken yearly. They are prolific breeders and having as many as 3 to 5 clutches a season, secures that this species thrives. This young bird just seemed taken by my soft talking to it and stayed for a very long time, just chillin, even falling asleep for a few moments. Mourning Doves build very insignificant nests and will abandon them readily if anyone, or anything disturbs them. If they have a successful nest, they may use it a few times in a season. Incubation of eggs lasts about 14 days, and the young are then ready to leave the nest in another 14 days. There are usually 2 to 3 young birds per clutch. The males tend to the nest during the day light hours and then the female tends to it during the evening hours. Doves produce a food termed "pigeon milk" (which is not really milk at all) from glands in the crop of the adult bird. The adult will open wide it's beak and then the young one will stick in it's head to partake of the goodness of the nourishment provided. My visit and some 77 photographs later of this lovely young Mourning Dove came to a close with this yawn. It was off to the bird feeder one last time, before evening darkness set in and shelter with others was taken~