Mourning Dove Nest Cam Part 5

This is the fifth and final episode of a multi-part educational series on the nesting of mourning doves, caring for the eggs and raising of the young. The nest is located in a flower pot I have hanging from the eaves of my garden shed. The filming is done with an inexpensive USB webcam and an old laptop inside the shed. This episode shows care and development of the young doves for the last week they are in the nest. Nesting began (Day 1) on August 5, 2014.
The parents take very good care of their young, with both parents taking an equal role in guarding and feeding the babies. They alternate multiple times a day, with one parent on the nest feeding and guarding the babies, while the other goes out to gather food. As the young doves get bigger, more time is spent away from the nest gathering food. Mom always has the last feeding, and stays on the nest all night. Teachers, please feel free to use this video content in the classroom.
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Also, CHECK OUT the new video series! • Mourning Dove Family -...

[@geenaobanion2737]

Thank you for these videos. I LOVE mourning doves; they are quiet, sleek and are a very hardy bird.

[@Weird_Old_Uncle_Kenny]

Thanks Geena!

[@geenaobanion2737]

Thank you for this video...your a good man...I am a bird caretaker; so to speak. I care for a dove that can't fly. She was injured; I have been her caretaker for years. She says THANK YOU ALSO...she watches the videos too.

[@leahdeno]

Thank you for posting this. We have a pair sitting on eggs in our sunroom just outside the kitchen door. Sooo darn cute to see them try their wings. It was almost like," what the heck I'm flapping my wings like mommy, and daddy do, but it's not taking me anywhere!"

[@Weird_Old_Uncle_Kenny]

Thanks for watching!

[@CritterHouseUSA]

Really enjoyed these. We have a bunch of mourning doves living on and around our house. I feel them all winter, but I’ve decided this spring I’m going to put out some kind of mesh / bowls for nesting sites.

[@leobell2459]

😢 This was the hardest part to see. Best wishes to you all.

[@eyesea123]

My doves are back for round two of babies. Baby hatched 4 days ago and saw it beside Daddy. Other egg must have hatched too, but haven't seen it yet. Thank you for this precious set of videos. I was watching this and a ton of birds were in my driveway...a TON! They must have heard the baby cry. Awe, so sweet.

[@Weird_Old_Uncle_Kenny]

Thanks for watching! In case you haven't seen them already, I have another set of dove videos called "Mourning Dove Family". Here's Part 1: kzbin.info/www/bejne/m4vNgGurntialc0

[@monisa456]

Thank you for making this video. I learned a whole lot. We have had a baby mourning dove for five days now, think he must have been 5 days at the most when we found him. He still has some to grow before he will be able to fly.

[@joseajimenez8768]

So relaxing looking this videos I love those birds.

[@Weird_Old_Uncle_Kenny]

Thanks for watching!

[@dixiecupprincess9050]

Thanks for posting this series. A pair of mourning doves set up a nest in the window just above my front door and I just love learning more about them.

[@Weird_Old_Uncle_Kenny]

dixiecupprincess Thanks for watching. I'm glad you enjoyed it!

[@Weird_Old_Uncle_Kenny]

meow23, they definitely found their parents. For about 2 weeks afterward, I would often see the entire family plus an older sibling gather on the street lamp in the morning, and they would all fly down to feed together in a nearby field. Whether they made it to adulthood, I'm guessing that at least one of them did. A young pair used the same nest this spring (2015), and I wouldn't be surprised if one of the parents was one of these 2 babies.

[@user-nd6uu6yj2f]

Thanks so much for the great documentary, I enjoy viewing the whole 5 parts over and over.

[@malcolmwhite2420]

We did have Doves in Cedar Brush Drive TX too!

[@BrandonCaparas]

You are a good man for tending to them needlebeeks, "weird" old uncle Kenny.

[@meow23]

Beautiful but I hope the young birds found their parents and survived to adulthood

[@limbuprakash7986]

Thank you for this lovely videos.

[@Weird_Old_Uncle_Kenny]

You're welcome. Thanks for watching!

[@shalimarsgirl]

With great interest, I watched your entire episode, and I thank you so very much for these wonderful videos!! For the past three days, I noticed a small mourning dove in my backyard. There's a carport that's covered with huge vines on one side, some trees surrounding the yard, and a garden. Today, the mourning dove was on the patio table for a couple of hours. I watched it just sit there, then close its eyes and rest its head on its shoulders. It looked 'right at home' and seeing it made me feel good inside. I kept my eye on the patio table, periodically checking to see what the little guy was doing. Then it was gone, and I hope the "little guy" will be back tomorrow. Amazing nature, isn't it!! With love from Canada, Evy

[@Weird_Old_Uncle_Kenny]

Thanks for watching, and your kind words, Evy. Glad you enjoyed it!

[@rossharper1983]

I've got a collared dove baby in my lounge for the past 12 days, fell from a nest at work.

[@TangledUpInBlue631]

Thank you, uncle kenny. And to the cleavers. Sorry about the beav.

[@garytilley712]

here you can see the babies feeding by inserting their beaks into their mom's beak, the opposite of how most birds feed. also, virtually all the dove experts agree that at 12 days the babies are expected to leave the nest, and at this point the mom's visits become less frequent, and the point of any visits after this time is much more about coaxing the fledglings out than feeding them. this video seems to bear that out.

[@Weird_Old_Uncle_Kenny]

While the parents do begin coaxing harder and harder, I've never seen the babies leave in less than 14/15, at least not successfully. I've seen it take 16/17, and the babies become so ravenous they literally attack the mom or each other. The coaxing is a Pavlov's conditioning scheme. As soon as the babies are about a week old, and the parents are beginning to make multiple trips each day, Dad begins announcing it's mealtime nearly every time he arrives at the nest by doing a full 5-note coo. The babies realize it's mealtime when Dad does the coo. Sometimes mom does the coo also (June did it quite a bit until Beaver bailed, the first I've ever seen the female do it more than once or twice). Then Dad starts doing the coo from a nearby spot before he comes to the nest. This gets the babies excited, knowing that it's mealtime, but they can't get to it. They cheep and dance, try out their wings. The feedings get shorter, and the parents then fly off to a nearby spot and call to them again. "Hey, it's still feeding time, but you gotta come over here to get it..." It works!

[@donnacartwight3296]

For the second time I have found a brancher in my backyard. The first one I found was a tiny guy who was possibly blown out of the nest due to high winds or he was flapping, maybe 7 days old. I took him to a wildlife rescue, they raised him to a healthy adult, banded him and brought him back to my neighborhood. Now, 7 years later, I have a second one, but he seems a little older, I figured he can only fly up to 3 feet off the ground, he walks, turns and flaps wings pretty well, but has no direction. Mom and Dad come down to the ground to feed him. Mom stays all day. Dad, he's in and out of the back yard. This has been going on I believe 3 days. We've had strong winds here. There has been alot of Dove activity in the backyard for the couple of last weeks. But I never noticed any activity with a baby until now. I'm a hopeless romantic, I think I will call rescue and be advised. By the way, wonderful videos, they've given me more insight to these wonderful creatures.

[@Weird_Old_Uncle_Kenny]

Thanks for the story, Donna! I would say that if the parents are caring for the wayward baby, I'd leave them be. If he can fly at all, he is very, very close to making it. The parents do play a role after they leave the nest, showing them where to go for food, shelter, and to meet the rest of the flock. I would hate to disrupt that part of his development any more than has already been done. I would only intervene if the parents were to abandon him. Good luck, and thanks for watching!

[@Radioactivegodgoji]

Hi I am going to go and watch your other videos !! But so excited to share with a fellow bird lover,there is currently a mama mourning dove sitting in a nest right outside our apartment up in the eves. i cannot tell if she has layed ther eggs yet but yesterday dad was busily building the nest abd she has been in the nest since yestyerday morning.

[@Weird_Old_Uncle_Kenny]

If there's a bird on the nest at all times, she has already laid. :) Glad you enjoyed the videos!

[@Kewpiemom]

I am about to have my fourth nest on my front porch in less than a year. They use my planters to have their young one right after the other. #Mybabydoves

[@margpearson1018]

Got this far a couple of years ago, then grackles moved in. End of story. New pair here now. I hope the grackles ignore them....

[@user-iz1zk2qk2b]

😊

[@lindamatos8136]

Hi , I have a question there is a Nest next to us and the baby pigeos i have not seen their mother like for 1 day and half, What could have happended and how can I help ? Please let me know

[@Weird_Old_Uncle_Kenny]

Hi Linda. Sorry I was not able to respond sooner, my wifi was down for the last few weeks. You mention pigeons, which are related and similar to doves. I am not a bird expert, just a guy who filmed mourning doves in my backyard. I will answer these questions as they relate to mourning doves, as that is all I know anything about... "I haven't seen the parents in over a day, what could have happened?" I get this same question A LOT. Here is my standard answer I give everyone: As the babies get older, closer to fledging from the nest, the parents must both spend more and more time away from the nest. Instead of just switching, each parent will make a quick feeding at the nest, and often go right back out for more. They are very good at visiting the nest when no one is looking. So what should you do? Same answer I give everyone: PLEASE STAY AWAY FROM THE NEST! Unless you know what you are doing raising baby birds yourself (I don't), your interference will most likely end in tragedy. The parents know exactly what they are doing. Let them do it.

[@lesflynn2392]

I found two doves on the ground I put them in a box the mother came around and fed them I put the box higher up off the ground because of cats the mother kept coming back feeding the birds then one morning the baby birds were gone I was hoping the cat didn't get to them

[@Weird_Old_Uncle_Kenny]

I would expect to find feathers/remains nearby if a cat or other smaller predator took them. I expect they flew away, unless the box itself was significantly disturbed to indicate otherwise. When the babies are lost, the parents usually come back to the nest (box) to call out for them, trying to find them, especially in the morning. You probably would have noticed them, if that was the case. I think they fledged successfully. Nice work!

[@lesflynn2392]

No feathers, I didn't think about that I feel better now . Thanks

[@judiwelch7053]

WE had doves nesting in a hanging plant in our yard two years in a row and last year they didn't come back. We are so sad. Do you do anything to encourage them back ? It is so sweet. WE miss them. This video reminds me !

[@Weird_Old_Uncle_Kenny]

The problem I had was they kept trying to nest in a hanging flower pot on my patio, which was in reach of my dogs. So i hung this pot just for the birds from the eave of my garden shed, and my garden was fenced so the dogs couldn't even get near there. It was on a northern facing wall, so the sun couldn't hit it directly. And I filled the pot with gravel in the bottom, dirt on top of that, and then dried grass laid flat on top of that, with more dried grass, weeds, and pine needles arranged in a circle around the rim. They did the rest (which wasn't much) and made it their own. After every nesting I would take the whole thing down and dump out everything, and wash the pot thoroughly (lots of poop!) to prevent infection and mites. They would use it every year 2-4 times, and they were never tempted to use my patio pots again! Hope this helps. Thanks for watching, and Happy Birding!

[@debbiedejohn1069]

Why would Doves abandoned their nest? She Laid 2 eggs, they should have hatched by now but they left their nest? Nest is very close to front door, could that be the reason? Anyone want to tell me please??🙋🏻‍♀️🙋🏻‍♀️😞😞😞😱

[@Weird_Old_Uncle_Kenny]

Sorry, Debbie, didn't see your post until now. Mourning doves often abandon a nest with eggs, sometimes for no apparent reason. One reason could certainly be the proximity to human traffic, or potential predators. I wouldn't worry too much about it, the female is an egg factory, and can lay a new clutch in a matter of days. I had a pair that laid 3 times in a row, only to have the female leave the nest for hours for no apparent reason, and the eggs were stolen by western scrub jays every time. To me, it looked like she was using the jays as "birth control".

[@user-hg1rl5yj9c]

يتتيهينبعىعىهبننبنبنميهرت

[@miguelbaque1683]

que lindo pero no me gusto el final :(

[@Weird_Old_Uncle_Kenny]

Gracias por ver, Yuli. La historia tuvo un final feliz. Los bebés volando en el mundo. Siento que mi cámara no graba. Ocurrió en la noche. Pero, un final feliz!

[@hinlIhm]

🤐🤐👈🏻👉👳🏼👈🏻👉👣👣👣👈🏻👉🗣🗣🗣🗣🗣👈🏻👉🤮🤮🤮

[@tuannguyenvan1485]

Cuckoo dove