What kind of bird is it?

[Cooking Goddess]

Charlie, depending on where you live in MN, you probably have mourning doves near. The MN Department of Natural Resources has a nice article and map that talks about them in your state. I was able to link to just the map:

 

[Dawgluver]

We're a state south of you, Charlie, and we have many mourning doves. We have several bird feeders, and the doves like to feed from the ground. We love seeing the nesting pairs.

 

[Kayelle]

Yes Charlie, they are a beautiful little timid bird, and generally quite friendly to humans. I can't understand why they are hunted, as the very small little breast is the only thing worth eating. I'd have to be very very hungry.

 

[Dawgluver]

I don't get it either, Kay. The meat you'd get is about the size of a large french fry. There's a big push to allow hunting them here.

 

[Mad Cook]

Yes Charlie, they are a beautiful little timid bird, and generally quite friendly to humans. I can't understand why they are hunted, as the very small little breast is the only thing worth eating. I'd have to be very very hungry.

Considered to be an "invasive "species in some areas so shooting is possibly allowed to keep numbers down and if you have to kill something it's better to put the corpse to some good use.

 

[taxlady]

Considered to be an "invasive "species in some areas so shooting is possibly allowed to keep numbers down and if you have to kill something it's better to put the corpse to some good use.

Agreed. They can also become a nuisance when the predators that normally keep their populations under control disappear or drop in numbers.

 

[Addie]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbkOqgvqId0

Looks just like the one in Charlie's picture.

 

[CharlieD]

My grandma used to make awesome pigeons. So tasty. I would never touch one.


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[CharlieD]

Thank you everybody


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[Cheryl J]

My ex was a hunter and would bring home dove now and then. It's a dark meated little bird. We used to wrap the little breasts in bacon, skewer them, and put them on the grill. That was a few decades ago in another life. I do recall them being pretty tasty that way.

Nowadays I just like listening to them coo and watching them build nests with their mates and raise their young.

 

[Wyshiepoo]

I don't get it either, Kay. The meat you'd get is about the size of a large french fry. There's a big push to allow hunting them here.

I think dove and pigeon are related?


A friend goes shooting, and when he gets enough he makes pigeon burgers, they are absolutely delicious I must get the recipe off of him sometime.

 

[CharlieD]

Doves and pigeons are related. As the mater of fact in Russian there is no separate word for Dove, it's simply called pigeon.


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[taxlady]

This is what Wikipedia says,

"In ornithological practice, "dove" tends to be used for smaller species and "pigeon" for larger ones, but this is in no way consistently applied ..."

 

[Zagut]

They can be very tasty. So that's what kind of bird it is. "Tasty"

We used to call them G.I. Joe turkeys.

You need more then one for a meal but a good day hunting should bring you that.

 

[Gravy Queen]

It's a collared dove. I have a pair in my garden every spring. They were on the drive when I came home this evening.


They've only nested in Britain since the 1950s and are a fairly recent arrival in the US!

I agree MC this looks exactly like the collared doves I frequently have in my garden .

 

[FoodieFanatic]

This is one of the beautiful Mourning Doves that frequent my bird sanctuary daily. They travel in a flock of 10-12 with their babies. Absolutely one of my favorite birds, next to the Bushtits. Those are very tiny birds that travel in flocks of 12-20+ They visit the suet cake daily and will be within two feet of me. Just adorable! I do a bird study for Cornell University and it is one of the most rewarding things that I do daily. I have feeders and bird baths and check on them throughout the day to be sure they are full. During our drought this summer (hence the brown lawn) I even had a Red Tailed Hawk at the bird bath getting a drink! There was no water to be found so I constantly had birds and squirrels splashing around. So much fun watching them be so happy.

 

[medtran49]

I was in Miami. Not sure if I ever seen them in MN. But it's true they are very pretty.


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At the old house in South Broward, county just north and west of Miami-Dade, we had one that would sit on the fence for a good amount of time daily. I called it a flying softball. That was the fattest dove I ever saw. Surprised it could actually fly.

 

[FoodieFanatic]

At the old house in South Broward, county just north and west of Miami-Dade, we had one that would sit on the fence for a good amount of time daily. I called it a flying softball. That was the fattest dove I ever saw. Surprised it could actually fly.

The reason is the mate leaves them in one spot while they forge for food. They return for them hours later.
We had a sad incident with one that was left on a flagstone and was waiting for their mate. A hawk came swooping in and killed it. Hawks de-feather their prey so when the mate returned there was a pile of feathers. It started to pick threw the feathers and the realized its mate was gone. It took one white feather, put it on top of the pile and just stared at it. I was crying so hard watching this. I know it's the cycle of life but so hard to witness . Then it flew to the roof and sat there for a good 25 minutes, later that day the spouse and baby returned. Looked at the pile for a minute and flew off. They were saying their last good byes . So sad,

 

[taxlady]

This is one of the beautiful Mourning Doves that frequent my bird sanctuary daily. They travel in a flock of 10-12 with their babies. Absolutely one of my favorite birds, next to the Bushtits. Those are very tiny birds that travel in flocks of 12-20+ They visit the suet cake daily and will be within two feet of me. Just adorable! I do a bird study for Cornell University and it is one of the most rewarding things that I do daily. I have feeders and bird baths and check on them throughout the day to be sure they are full. During our drought this summer (hence the brown lawn) I even had a Red Tailed Hawk at the bird bath getting a drink! There was no water to be found so I constantly had birds and squirrels splashing around. So much fun watching them be so happy.

Sounds wonderful. And, a hawk at the water! Wow!

 

[medtran49]

The reason is the mate leaves them in one spot while they forge for food. They return for them hours later.
,

Well, if that's the case, it was a really bad place to stay. We were close to western edge of Everglades and there were red-tailed hawks everywhere, as well as a couple of bald eagles (depending on time of year) flying around. In fact, 1 day a red-tailed hawk actually caught something in our yard, probably a rat or squirrel as we had those too when the avocados on our tree were edible. Freaked me out. I was going into kitchen and saw something out of the corner of my eye in the yard, looked and there was a hawk flopping around in the yard. Thinking it was hurt, I went outside to look and see what needed to be done, but then realized it had something in its talons. It tried to take off with its prey, but couldn't get altitude (low branched but tall tree in the way) to clear the wood privacy fence, landed beside it on the other side of the yard, then finally managed to take off over the lower chain link that faced the lake in the backyard.