Mourning Dove (1 Viewer)

I noticed a mourning dove on my fence yesterday. My dog went outside and saw it and started barking. The dove didn't fly and normally they do. So I went closer but it still didn't fly away. I've never seen a wild bird that calm around people and animals. I even started going RIGHT up to the fence and moving, but it didn't do anything. It eventually flew away though. Do you think any thing was wrong with it, or was it just used to people?

I have often observed Mourning Doves behave this way around our feeders - not on them, but on the ground underneath, where they often peck around for spilled seed. I can walk right up to the feeder, and the bird won't move until the very last minute.

I don't have a definite answer to this, but I suspect that it is a form of "freezing" behaviour, in which an animal, when it perceives a threat, simply stays very still in hope that it won't get noticed. The cottontails in our yard do the same sort of thing. It seems like a ridiculously useless tactic in a suburban back yard; but in the wild, where often a predator will been drawn to movement above all else, I presume it often works - often enough for it to get coded into these animals' genes, anyway.

Thanks. When I come to think of it, I do also see bunnies that freeze if I go near them. That was probably what happened. Anyway, it did allow me to get some close up pictures!