Laura Erickson's For the Birds

Mourning Dove Numbers

A couple of weeks ago, when I talked about declining Mourning Dove numbers in Minnesota, I referred to the 2002 Mourning Dove Population Status document published by the US Fish and Wildlife Service. This weekend I found the 2003 Mourning Dove document. The numbers in these studies are based on nation-wide standardized Mourning Dove surveys conducted by the US Fish and Wildlife Service. I was concerned about the steady population loss in Minnesota documented in the 2002 study. But the 2003 numbers for Minnesota are genuinely alarming. The 2003 dove survey showed a shocking 46.4% decline in Mourning Dove breeding numbers from the 2002 tally. Overall, this adds up to a 5.6% average annual decline during the past 10 years, and a 2.1% average annual population drop since the survey began in 1966.

Numbers of doves on my own Mourning Dove Survey route were the highest ever last year, when I counted 5. Doves at bird feeders do seem to be doing good overall, even as the overall population in the state falls.

The Minnesota dove population is much smaller than that of most surrounding states: The current state index of 9.3 doves per route is less than a third of Iowa’s, almost a fifth of North Dakota’s 44.5, and close to a quarter of South Dakota’s 35.4. And even Wisconsin, which has very few doves compared to the plains states, had more than twice the number of doves per route as Minnesota last year.

I’ve talked to a few hunters who were ambivalent about or in favor of opening a dove season in Minnesota until they saw these numbers. And I talked to the state senator from my district a week ago—she is opposed to the dove hunt and would certainly have noticed if the DNR had made these numbers available. The annual dove population status report is a reputable document that one would think would be referred to by every state in setting dove bag limits and making other dove-hunting decisions—it seems shocking to me that the Minnesota DNR is either ignorant of this important annual survey or hiding the numbers during this year when opening a dove hunt is being hotly contested.

Why are our dove numbers going down? It may be due to agricultural issues—either habitat loss or pesticides—or may be due to heavier hunting pressure when our doves migrate to states with a hunting season. Whatever the cause, a single year drop of almost 50% in the dove population is alarming, and requires study. By opening a dove season this year, the Minnesota DNR not only will add a sudden new variable that will make finding a cause for the declining numbers more difficult, but will exacerbate the problem.

How ironic it is that the mourning dove bill was attached to the bill limiting the use of lead sinkers. As an upland bird, Mourning Doves may be hunted with lead shot, so tens of thousands of pounds more of this toxic substance will rain down on Minnesota lands this fall, even though it is well documented that doves and other birds pick up spent shot as grit. In a year when our dove numbers are dramatically falling statewide, as the DNR is finally working hard on getting lead out of our lakes and streams, how can they possibly justify starting a dove hunt which will add more lethal lead to upland habitats and contribute to the decline of a beloved backyard bird? The DNR needs to be held accountable for ignoring or even withholding these numbers.