The Reluctant Mother Dove

After the third family of mourning doves left our nests last September, (the ones in the eaves) I swore I would take the nests down so as not to encourage more. Skee loved the dove families, but I was worried that if we played host to too many, our dove population would explode. However, I never got around to removing the nests.

About a month ago, a young couple started checking out the nest in front of the living room window. By "checking out" I mean they would watch the nest from the fence 25 feet away, fly over and try it out, and generally assess the area for fitness. Was the nest large enough? Sheltered enough? Close enough to food?

This assessing, though, went on for weeks. The female dove seemed very uncertain. She'd hang out in the nest, but as soon as we made any noise inside or opened the front door, she'd fly away, making that agitated chippering noise. If we looked at her wrong through the window, she was off. Honestly, she was the most nervous dove that I had met. Her mate seemed a bit frustrated with her. He would fly over to show her that the nest was just fine, but she wouldn't stick around. I got the idea that she was trying out all the nests in the neighborhood and he just wanted her to PICK ONE.

Then, a week or two ago, she reluctantly settled in to brood. I could tell she didn't want to do this. She would try to brood with her tail feathers to the window. I'd catch her eyeing me suspiciously when I'd open the drapes in the morning. She definitely wanted to get off that nest.

I don't suppose Skee helped matters, what with his excited murmuring about how he was going to eat her and throwing his body against the window. However, it must be pretty clear that Skee can't get to her. That's no comfort, I suppose, to an anxious dove.

Just recently she started sitting high on the nest. Did her eggs hatch? Are they too little for us to see from this angle? I try to stand on things to look, but from inside the house I can't see much. I dare not look from outside or she might have a heart attack.

Last night her mate came over to see. I could see her shifting about and looking at him meaningfully. "Let me leave the nest, just for a little while. You watch them. I'm just going to go out for a bit."

"No, you have to stay!" He even gestured in that abrupt bird way.

"I don't WANT to stay!" Her eyes were a bit wild. At least, I think they were.

Now he was agitated. "You have to. That's how it works. You're the girl."

"I never wanted this, I want a career." She ruffled her feathers and shifted morosely. "You tricked me!"

Mr. Dove flew off. Ms. Dove eyed us. I shut the drapes.

Yeah, it's a rich, rich world in my head.

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