The sight of a Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura) sitting motionless on the ground often confuses people. This common avian species is widespread across North America, making its behavior a frequent observation. The seemingly odd posture of a dove resting flat on dirt or pavement is rarely a sign of distress or injury. Instead, this ground-level behavior is rooted in several specific, normal biological needs, including maintaining feather health, acquiring nutrients, and fulfilling reproductive duties.
Maintenance Activities Like Dust Bathing
Mourning Doves use the ground for essential hygienic activities that keep their feathers in optimal condition. Dust bathing involves settling into loose soil or sand and vigorously fluttering the wings and body. This action coats the plumage in fine particles, which helps absorb excess oil and remove external parasites, such as mites and lice, that degrade feather quality.
Doves also frequently engage in sunbathing, adopting a peculiar posture where they lie on their side, fluff their feathers, and spread one wing out. They remain nearly motionless for extended periods. The sun’s heat aids in feather maintenance by helping to re-align the feather structure and may also help drive parasites away from the skin.
When not actively feeding or breeding, Mourning Doves spend time “loafing” or resting. This resting behavior is often performed on the ground in open areas with high visibility, allowing them to remain alert to potential threats. Resting on the ground allows the dove to conserve energy and digest a recent meal, making this motionless sitting a deliberate act of self-care and safety.
Essential Foraging and Grit Intake
A primary reason Mourning Doves spend time on the ground is their specific method of feeding. These birds are granivorous, meaning their diet consists almost entirely of seeds, which they forage exclusively from open, bare ground. Unlike many other bird species, doves do not scratch the soil with their feet; they simply peck up seeds readily visible on the surface.
To process their tough, seed-based diet, Mourning Doves must consume small, hard, inorganic particles known as grit. Since birds lack teeth, they rely on the gizzard, a muscular organ, to mechanically grind their food. The ingested grit—small pieces of sand or fine gravel—is stored in the gizzard, where it acts to crush and break down the seeds.
Doves must constantly replace the grit that wears down during this grinding process, requiring them to search for and consume these particles directly from the ground. After gathering seeds into a pouch called the crop, they often fly to a safe perch to digest the meal. However, the initial foraging and grit collection are strictly ground-based activities, and an adult dove may consume 60 to 100 pieces of grit daily for efficient digestion.
Ground-Based Nesting and Incubation
Sitting on the ground is often tied to the reproductive cycle, particularly during incubation. While Mourning Doves frequently nest in trees, they occasionally build their flimsy nests on the ground, especially where elevated sites are lacking. These ground nests are simple depressions or platforms of grass and twigs placed in a well-camouflaged spot.
When a dove is sitting motionless, it may be a parent diligently incubating a clutch of two eggs. Both parents share the duty, with the male typically taking the day shift and the female incubating overnight. This long, motionless sitting period lasts about 14 days and can easily be mistaken for a bird in distress.
After the young, called squabs, hatch and fledge around 15 days, they continue to spend time on the ground near the nest site. The fledglings rely on their father for feeding as they transition to full independence. Furthermore, the male dove collects nesting materials, such as twigs and grass blades, directly from the ground for construction.