We have the tendency to overlook animals that we see often, and that includes Mourning Doves. I’ve heard people confuse them for Pigeons, and that’s okay! Let’s get a few things right about them.

Thornton W. Burgess actually clears up some things about Mourner in Chapter 34 of The Burgess Bird Book for Children. Peter Rabbit notices that Mourner is walking around on top of rocks and dirt, seeming to bend over and “eat”, but he knows that Mourner’s diet consists of seeds and grains. So why would he be doing that, Peter wonders?

“Hello, Mourner!” he cried. “What under the sun are you doing in there? Are you getting your breakfast?”

“Hardly, Peter; hardly,” cooed Mourner in the softest of voices. “I’ve had my breakfast and now I’m picking up a little gravel for my digestion.” He picked up a tiny pebble and swallowed it.

“Well, of all things!” cried Peter. “You must be crazy. The idea of thinking that gravel is going to help your digestion. I should say the chances are that it will work just the other way.”…

“you are you and I am I, and there is all the difference in the world. You know I eat grain and hard seeds. Not having any teeth I have to swallow them whole. One part of my stomach is called a gizzard and its duty is to grind and crush my food so that it may be digested. Tiny pebbles and gravel help grind the food and so aid digestion. I think I’ve got enough now for this morning, and it is time for a dust bath. There is a dusty spot over in the lane where I take a dust bath every day.”

Burgess, Thornton W., The Burgess Bird Book for Children, Living Book Press, 2021, p. 173-174.

See, we’ve already been able to clear up a few things about Mourner’s activities. If you want to learn a little more, I suggest flying over to Cornell Lab’s allaboutbirds.org.

Here is our gathering about Mourner:

Until next time, keep digesting <3 Kate

For more check out The Burgess Bird Writing and Coloring Pages and The Burgess Birds in Detail.

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