Doves are often symbols of enduring love, suggesting a pair bond that lasts a lifetime. This cultural idea is rooted in the bird’s common appearance in pairs and gentle demeanor. To understand the reality of this bond, it is necessary to examine the biological strategies of the Columbidae family, which includes doves and pigeons.
Defining Avian Monogamy
Most birds in the Columbidae family, such as the Mourning Dove, practice social monogamy. This means a male and female pair bond, live, and breed together, sharing the duties of raising their young for a single breeding season or a sequence of seasons. This arrangement is distinct from genetic monogamy, which requires the pair to reproduce exclusively with one another. DNA analysis often reveals that some offspring are fathered by other males, though this is less common in some dove species. While many doves remain paired for multiple years, the bond is functional, focused on maximizing reproductive success, rather than being a lifetime commitment.
Immediate Behavioral Response to Loss
When one member of a bonded pair dies, the surviving dove exhibits a clear shift in behavior. The bird may remain near the deceased mate’s body for an extended period, sometimes several days. Observers have noted the surviving dove nudging the body with its beak, attempting to groom the feathers, or appearing to try and rouse its motionless partner. This behavior is often accompanied by an increase in cooing calls, suggesting a search for the missing mate. Activity levels are reduced, and the surviving bird may temporarily neglect its territory or a current nest, especially if eggs or altricial young are present.
Re-Pairing or Remaining Solitary
Despite the distress of losing a mate, the biological imperative to reproduce compels the surviving dove to seek a new partner. The speed of re-pairing varies, but in species like the Mourning Dove, which have multiple nesting attempts per season, a new mate may be secured quickly, sometimes within days. The urgency of re-pairing is heightened because dove young are altricial, meaning they are born helpless and require the combined efforts of both parents to be fed and guarded until they fledge. A single parent is often incapable of successfully raising the young alone. This makes finding a new mate necessary for the current brood’s survival and the individual’s future reproductive output. Factors such as the bird’s age, the time of year, and the density of the local dove population influence the speed of finding a new partner. Remaining solitary is rare for a healthy, reproductively viable dove, as the pressure to pass on genes outweighs fidelity to the lost partner.
The Evolutionary Advantage of Lifelong Bonds
The strong pair bonds seen in doves are an evolutionary strategy that enhances reproductive capabilities. Since doves typically lay a small clutch of one or two eggs, they compensate by having the capacity for numerous nesting attempts per season. The continuous presence of a bonded pair allows for the shared duties of incubation and the production of crop milk, a nutrient-rich secretion used to feed the young. This biparental care ensures a higher survival rate for the offspring compared to single-parent efforts. Furthermore, the established pair can rapidly re-nest following a failure or once the previous young have fledged, maximizing the number of broods successfully raised within a single year.