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The mournful cooing of the Mourning Dove is one of our most familiar bird sounds. From southern Canada to central Mexico, this is one of our most common birds, often abundant in open country and along roadsides. European settlement of the continent, with its opening of the forest, probably helped this species to increase. It also helps itself, by breeding prolifically: in warm climates, Mourning Doves may raise up to six broods per year, more than any other native bird.

Few birds have been associated with humans so closely as the Rock Pigeon, better known as the common city pigeon. It has been domesticated and taken around the world, raised for food, trained for homing, racing, and carrying messages, and used in research. Originally native from Europe to North Africa and India, it now lives in a wild or semi-wild condition in cities all over the world, including most of North America. In places it has reverted to wild habits, nesting on cliffs far from cities.

Related to the Mourning Dove, but a larger and bulkier bird, the White-wing is mainly a summer resident in the southwestern states. It is abundant in some regions, and streamside groves or desert washes may echo with the crowing calls of males on spring mornings. In some desert areas, this dove often feeds on the fruits of cactus, and visits their flowers for nectar; it is an important pollinator of the giant saguaro cactus.

During the 20th century, this pale dove expanded its range spectacularly from the Middle East all the way across Europe. Introduced accidentally into the Bahamas in 1974, it soon spread to the Florida mainland. Its expansion westward and northward from there since the 1980s has been remarkable, and the species is now common to abundant across much of North America, as far northwest as Oregon and Washington. Oddly, the expansion has not yet penetrated the northeastern states, aside from a few records of strays.

This big pigeon, larger than the familiar park pigeon, is common in parts of the west. It lives along much of the Pacific Coast and in the mountains, moving about nomadically to feed on acorns, berries, or other wild food crops. Band-tails are sociable, foraging in flocks at most seasons and often nesting in small colonies. Unlike many doves, they do much of their feeding up in trees, clambering about with surprising agility to pluck berries.

Quiet and unobtrusive, the little ground dove walks on the ground in open bushy places in the southern states. If it is startled, it flies up into the brush with a fluttering rattle, showing a short black tail and a flash of rusty-red in the wings. The male may repeat his short cooing song incessantly, even in the heat of the day.

Native to southern Asia, this dove was introduced into the Los Angeles area of California around 1917. Since then it has gradually spread, occupying areas north to Santa Barbara and Bakersfield and south to San Diego. Living mostly in residential areas, it is usually rather tame, feeding on the ground on lawns and gardens. When disturbed, it flies almost straight up from the ground with noisy flapping of its wings.

A strong and fast flier, the White-crowned Pigeon regularly undertakes long flights over water, and it has been able to colonize islands almost throughout the Caribbean. It occurs commonly in parts of southern Florida, but most of its Florida nesting colonies are on small offshore islands. Flocks are usually seen flying swiftly overhead, or perching in treetops, feeding on berries.