I'm Mourning The Demise of Three Mourning Doves

I have a small succulent garden inside my front gate.  A mother dove and her two babies had been hanging out on the ground in the garden for several days.  I would come and go with Pepper, and we'd get very close to them, but they never budged.  They were adorable, and I started looking for them every time I came in the front gate.  This morning Pepper and I went for our morning walk about 7:15am, and there they were.  They just looked at us but never moved.  I said to myself, "How stupid can a bird be, to hang out on the ground."  I was right.  I went outside about 11am and I saw feathers everywhere, and some detatched wings.  I knew someone would get them, probably a hawk or a cat.

I learned something that may explain why this dove family was camped out on the ground.  It turns out they are exclusively seed eaters, and are constantly pecking at the ground to find seeds.  They take more than they need, hoard them, and digest them later.  It's a pretty dangerous life for these little guys.  I also found out that mourning doves mate for life.  The father dove of this little family is probably in mourning tonight.  These doves are said to be closely related to the late, lamented passenger doves.  Just thought you'd want to know all this.  More useless information for your brain.