Diamond Dove Home Page - Casey's Mourning Doves/title> <META NAME="Keywords" CONTENT="Birds, Doves, Mourning Doves, Baby Mourning Doves"> </head> <body bgcolor="#FFFFFF" link="#000080"> <table width=765 cellpadding=5 cellspacing=5 border=0 columns="2"> <tr> <td width=253 valign=TOP bgcolor="#FFFFFF"> <p><font size=2 face="Arial"> <center> <b>Welcome to the Diamond Dove Home Page. </b> </center> </font></p> <font face="Arial"><br> </font> <center> <center><h4><font face="Arial"> MAIN MENU </font></h4> <h4><font face="Arial"> Diamond Doves </font></h4></center> <font face="Arial"><font size="2"> <a href="index.html" >Home</a><br><br> <a href="bird00_Site_Map.htm" >Site Map</a><br><br> <a href="bird01_Diamonds.htm" >Diamond doves</a><br><br> <a href="bird02_Acquiring.htm" >Acquiring Diamond Doves</a><br><br> <a href="bird03_Caring.htm" >Caring for Diamonds</a><br><br> <a href="bird04_Living.htm" >Living With Diamonds</a><br><br> <a href="bird05_Raising.htm" >Raising Diamonds</a><br><br> <a href="bird06_Growth.htm" >Growth of a Diamond Baby</a><br><br> <a href="bird07_Stats.htm" >One Year's Reproduction Data</a><br><br> <a href="bird08_Tribute.htm">Tribute to China</a><br><br> </font> <hr size=1 align="center"> <h4 align="center"><font face="Arial">Other Dove Species</font></h4> <font face="Arial" size="2"> <a href="bird10%20Geopelia.htm" >Other Geopelia Species</a><br><br> <a href="bird11%20Ringneck.htm" >Ringneck Doves</a><br><br> <a href="bird11e%20Eurasian%20Collared%20Dove.htm">Eurasian Collared Doves</a><br><br> <a href="bird12%20Cape.htm" >Cape Doves</a><br><br> <a href="bird13%20Mourning.htm" >Mourning Doves</a><br><br> <a href="bird13b_Mourning_Dove_Baby_Growth.htm">Mourning Dove Baby Growth</a><br><br> <a href="bird14%20Rock%20Dove.htm" >Rock doves</a><br><br> <a href="bird15%20NA%20Doves.htm" >North American Doves</a><br><br> <a href="bird16%20World%20Doves.htm" >Dove Genera of the World</a></font><br><br> <hr size=1 align="center"> <p align="center"><b><font face="Arial">All Doves</font> </b></p> <a href="bird17_Sick.htm" ><font face="Arial" size="2">Caring for Injured or Sick Doves</a><br><br> <a href="bird18_Taming.htm" ><font face="Arial" size="2">Taming Doves</font></a><br><br> <hr size=1 align="center"> <h4 align="center"><font face="Arial">Other</font></h4> <p align="left"><font size="2" face="Arial"> <a href="bird20%20Books.htm" >Books of Interest</a><br><br> <a href="bird21%20Stories.htm" >Some Bird stories</a><br><br> <a href="bird22%20Me.htm" >About Me</a></font></p> <hr size=1 align="center"> <center><h3><font face="Arial">Links</font></h3></center> <h4><font face="Arial">Informational Sites</font></h4> <font face="Arial"><font size="2"> <a href="http://www.doveline.com/">American Dove Association</a><br><br> <a href="http://www.ringneckdove.com/"><fonr size="2">Wilmer J. Miller PhD. - Ringneck Doves.</a></font><br><br> <h4><font face="Arial">Commercial Sites</font></h4> <font face="Arial"><font size="2"> <a href="http://www.diamonddove.com">Jeff Dowining - Diamond Doves</a><br><br> <a href="http://www.zebrafinch.com/zebrafinch/DiamondDove/Dove.html">Garrie Landry - Diamond Doves</a><br><br> <a href="http://www.dovepage.com">Wade Oliver - The Dove Page</a><br><br> <a href="http://users.hcsys.com/~helenw/doveland.htm">Doveland Press - Diamond Doves</a></font><br><br> <hr size=1 align="center"> <font SIZE="2"> <p align="center">Questions or Comments?<br> <align="center">Contact me by clicking <a href="mailto:helenw@diamonddove.info">here</a></p> <p align="center"><img border="0" src="email%20address.jpg" width="171" height="58"></p> </font> <p> </td> <td width=512 valign=TOP> <p> <center> <h2><font face="Arial">Mourning Dove Baby Growth</font></h2> <hr width=450 size=1> <img border="3" src="20070513_babies_day_2.JPG" width="413" height="318"> <hr width=450 size=1> <p><font face="Arial" size="1">His and Her</font><br> <font face="Arial" size="1">Age 4 days</font><br> <font face="Arial" size="1">Hatched May 9, 2007</font> <p> <font face="Arial" size="1">All photographs on this page were taken by Casey Musser of Springfield, Missouri</font><br> <hr width=450 size=1> </center> <font face="Arial"> <center></center> <p><font size="2">Many visitors to this site have asked questions about the growth and development of young mourning dove babies. Casey Mills of Springfield, Missouri had the good fortune of having a pair of mourning doves build a nest in the planter beside their front door. These two birds became especially tame and allowed her to take photographs of them from the time the eggs were laid until the young babies left their nest.</font> <h4>Time From Hatching to Fledging</h4> <p><font size="2">Mourning dove babies are not very consistent with the time required for the babies to fledge. Gibbs, Barnes, and Cox indicate the mourning dove babies fledge between 11 and 15 days. The babies in these photographs fledged on their eleventh day. This series show the appearance of the babies at the ages of 4, 6, 7, 10, 11, and 12 days. The babies seem to be fully feather on the seventh day.</font> <h4>Background of parents</4></p> </h4> <p><font size="2">One of the parents were the offspring of a pair of doves that had been nesting in their back yard for two years. The female tried to nest in the back yard too, but her parents chased her around to the front of the house where she decided to nest in a planter that was right beside the front door and the driveway. Apparently the parents were not concerned about the family and often allowed the close approach of anyone without leaving the nest.</font> <h4 align="center"><font size="2">Egg Incubation and Baby Development</font> <font face="Arial" size="2"><br> </font> </h4> <table border="1" width="99%"> <tr> <td width="34%" align="center">Day 1</td> <td width="40%"><font size="2">April 25, 2007</font> <p><font size="2">The female selected the planter in front of the house near the front door and laid her first egg</font></p> </td> <td width="36%"><img border="0" src="20070425_egg_one.JPG" width="349" height="259"></td> </tr> <tr> <td width="34%" align="center">Day 2</td> <td width="40%"> <p><font size="2">April 26, 2007</font></p> <p><font size="2">The parents started to incubate the first egg showing no fear of the constant traffic in and out of the front door and the vehicles in the driveway.</font></p> </td> <td width="36%"><img border="0" src="20070426_dove_incubating.JPG" width="346" height="260"></td> </tr> <tr> <td width="34%" align="center">Day 3 <p> </td> <td width="40%"><font size="2">April 27, 2007</font> <p><font size="2">About 48 hours after the first egg was laid the second one arrived (simulated photo)</font></p> </td> <td width="36%"><img border="0" src="20070427_two_eggs_simulated_20070427.jpg" width="345" height="258"></td> </tr> <tr> <td width="34%" align="center">Age 0 Days</td> <td width="40%"><font size="2">May 9, 2007 </font> <p><font size="2">Both eggs hatch after being incubated for 14 days</font></p> </td> <td width="36%"> </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="34%" align="center">Age 4 Days <p> </p> </td> <td width="40%"><font size="2">May 13, 2007</font> <p><font size="2">Both babies are now covered with gray fuzz and tiny pinfeathers. Because of the heat from the afternoon sun they tried to move the planter. But the parent dove, got out of the nest and stood in the old place and cooed. They moved the planter back to its original place.</font> </p> </td> <td width="36%"><img border="0" src="20070513_babies_day_2.JPG" width="341" height="253"></td> </tr> <tr> <td width="34%" align="center">Age 6 Days</td> <td width="40%"><font size="2">May 15, 2007</font> <p><font size="2">The babies now have more feathers and and have become so big the parents can not cover both at the same time. The parents have become quite tame and allow the family to pet its back without getting off the nest or even snapping at their hands.</font> </p> </td> <td width="36%"><img border="0" src="20070515_babies_day_4.JPG" width="344" height="263"></td> </tr> <tr> <td width="34%" align="center">Age 7 Days</td> <td width="40%"><font size="2">May 16, 2007</font> <p><font size="2">It has now become very hot in the planter during the late afternoon as temperatures in the shade climbed into the eighties. The parent has been seen panting. Today was the first day that the parents left the babies uncovered while they sat together on some nearby electric wires.</font></p> </td> <td width="36%"><img border="0" src="20070516_babies_day_5.JPG" width="345" height="260"></td> </tr> <tr> <td width="34%" align="center">Age 10 Days</td> <td width="40%"><font size="2">May19, 2007</font> <p><font size="2">The babies are now fully feathered and the parents no longer try to cover them.</font> </p> </td> <td width="36%"><img border="0" src="20070519_babies_and_parent.JPG" width="348" height="266"></td> </tr> <tr> <td width="34%" align="center">Age 10 Days</td> <td width="40%"><font size="2">May 19, 2007</font> <p><font size="2">The babies are now about large enough to fledge and face the dangers of predators as they learn how to fly and peck seeds on the ground.</font></p> </td> <td width="36%"><img border="0" src="20070519_big_babies.JPG" width="351" height="261"></td> </tr> <tr> <td width="34%" align="center">Age 11 Days</td> <td width="40%"><font size="2">May 20, 2007</font> <p><font size="2">The babies left the nest today and this photo shows both of them and one parent relaxing in the shade.</font></p> </td> <td width="36%"><img border="0" src="20070520_babies_fledged.JPG" width="348" height="266"></td> </tr> <tr> <td width="34%" align="center">Age 12 Days</td> <td width="40%"><font size="2">May 21, 2007 </font> <p><font size="2">This photo shows the smallest of the two babies sitting on the roof of a truck in the driveway. The larger baby seemed to have already left the area. </font> </p> </td> <td width="36%"><img border="0" src="20070521_after_fledging.jpg" width="348" height="264"></td> </tr> </table> <p> </p> <hr width=450 size=1> <p> <font size="2"><b>Source:</b> Text and photographs provided by Casey Musser of Springfield, Missouri in the spring of 2007</font> </p> <font SIZE="2"> <p align="center">Questions or Comments?<br> <align="center">Contact me by clicking <a href="mailto:helenw@diamonddove.info">here</a></p> <p align="center"><img border="0" src="email%20address.jpg" width="171" height="58"></p> </font> <hr width=450 size=1> <p align="center"> <center> <font face="Arial" size="2"> <b>Š2007 - Helen White<br> </b> <br> </font> <address> <font face="Arial" size="2"> Helen White<br> P. O. Box 367,<br> Tallahassee, FL 32302-0367<br> </font> </address> <p><font face="Arial" size="2">Last revised on: June 29, 2007</font></p> </center> </font> </td> </tr> </table> </body> </html>