5 species of squab...

AT the time of the settlement of Midland, only one dove species lived in the area. Mourning doves nested in the pocket forests of mesquite, soapberry, and hackberry in the draws. During the fall migration thousands upon thousands would land in the sunflower covered shinoak sandune habitat and stoke up for moving further south where the ancient oak mottes of the Pecos Canyons gave them winter succor. Their voice is a soft coo, sounding somewhat like an owl. West Texas has long been known as a great place to hunt doves.

In the late 1940s Inca doves moved north, establishing year around residences in towns with plentiful Siberian elm trees to nest in, and in thicker shrubbery. Inca doves are much smaller, and reddish under their wings. Their call has been portrayed as "cold cokes! cold cokes!" They did not colonize the pocket forests, and rarely went to an exurban yard in the cotton farming areas, and almost never to a rural ranchhouse.

In 1980 whitewinged doves also moved north, and again colonized the town. Inca dove and mourning dove populations began declining due to the fierce competition offered by the much larger white-winged doves. Mourning doves not only nested in the pocket forests of the draws, but also the huge prickly pear thicket on 1788 which originated with the cattle drives of the droughty 1930's where the cactus was brought on trucks as emergency feed, while the cattle waited to board trains to greener pastures.

In the late 1990s Eurasian collared doves arrived after escaping captivity in Florida only a decade before, but they first began nesting in cemeteries and exurban yards, before finally moving to the urban forest about 2005. Whitewinged doves still dominate, but the even larger collared doves are steadily increasing. Eurasian collared doves are legal to hunt year around, but by finding safety within the city limits, their numbers have increased.

Pigeons are doves, too, and came to Midland by the 1920's with pigeon fanciers, but not more than a few thousand have ever colonized the rooftops of the taller buildings, large billboards, and other man-made nesting and roosting sites. They have not nested beyond the constructions of man yet in West Texas.

All doves build flimsy nests. Rarely are the nests more than a few dozen sticks seemingly haphazardly thrown in a pile in a fork of a tree branch. They began nesting in March and nests have been found in November, indicating there might be as many as 6 sets of 2 young each year, which allows for the possibility of quick population growth. As a major prey species for several species of hawk, and as targets for tree-climbing mammals like gray fox and bobcat, doves in the wild have controls, but in town, only hawks do the work, and only in the winter. Few house cats learn to shinny out on the skinny limbs where the doves nest.

When the population of doves reaches a saturation point, all of the species are prone to respiratory diseases. Lots of people feed birds, and if the feeding areas are not kept relatively clean, their droppings "turn on them" and disease lowers their numbers -- a standard ecological response to overpopulation. Other birds, especially house finches (the males with red on their head and chest) often get the respiratory disease as well. Canker is a deadly respiratory disease characterized by the swelling in the throat and cheesy growth in the mouth of the birds. It is caused by a protozoan. 

Poor doves... their role is prey if the diseases of overpopulation do not get them. They also slam into windows, thinking reflected sky is safe.  No wonder the white winged doves sing que lastima all day!