A bird in the hand, and three in the windowsill

UW-Green Bay lecturer Bill Yazbec (English, writing) shared a photo of this beautiful mourning dove with her chicks. Yazbec said the bird has been outside his window (MAC Hall B 324) since he returned from summer break and she just had the babies last weekend.

According to Eric Giese, senior research specialist for the Cofrin Center for Biodiversity, mourning doves are very common birds in Wisconsin that take residence here and breed in the state. However, this photo, and the opportunity to see the chicks in person, is special, she said.

“Not everyone gets to see them since nests are often high and out of view,” Giese said. “In towns and cities, they typically nest in places like bent parts of gutters, tops of wall A/C units, tops of exterior house lights, house decorations like wreaths or baskets, or in more natural settings like trees or shrubs. Having young this late in the year is a little bit unusual. Their young have typically fledged by now, so these guys are still fairly young with winter approaching.”

Do you have a bird question? Feel free to send it to the Cofrin Center for Biodiversity (now celebrating 20 years!). “I absolutely love getting asked questions about birds (bird ID questions in photos, unknown bird calls in cell phone videos, general questions about birds, etc.),” Giese says. Contact her at giesee@uwgb.edu or call 920-465-2545.