Mourning Dove Nest Removal (1 Viewer)

Hello Bird Lovers!

This year I have had a pair of mourning dove parents nest in a tree on the back deck. The first clutch only 1 baby emerged successfully. It stuck around with the parents for a few days and then... ? not really sure where it went to be honest - do they go off and do some sort of training?

Anyway, the parents created a new nest, several branches away from the old nest and once again had 1 successful baby. This one has been somewhat timid and clingy. I am not sure where it went, but I suspect it got scared off possibly or they are doing far away training. It only hung out for about 2 days.

Well, I have decided to trim the tree during this time (BEFORE clutch number 3). I have a wysteria tree and it grows very, very quickly with vine like branches. I really needed to trim it, so up went the ladder and I clipped several branches. I removed the first nest (which was empty). Well, the second nest had an egg in it. It was very small, and had little brown spots on it, and smelled rotten! I removed the nest and egg........

Now, is everything going to be okay? I really didn't like disrupting the tree environment by cutting it back, but it was needed. I have never 'removed' an old nest before either and hope that I didn't stress the parents out. I have never seen them go look and be around the 'old' nests.

I caught them mating a few days ago and suspect, round 3 is any day now.

With the tree trimmed and the other two nests removed, will the parents be okay or nest somewhere else?

Thoughts? Opinions?

Also.... where do the babies go? They only stick around for a few days and then... I never get to see them again. Is that common?


Thanks all. I LOVE these mourning doves and want to give them a safe place to nest....

They'll find somewhere else, no problem - there's plenty of thick foliage for them to select from now.

The fledged young usually hang around for a few days; to be brutally honest, if they've disappeared quickly, chances are something's had them for dinner - cat, hawk, whatever. But that's the way of the world. Mourning Doves can nest 5-6 times in a year, if all the young survived, Mourning Doves would be waist-deep across the land. They aren't, so most don't make it. All that's needed is for a pair to raise two young to breeding age throughout their whole life. If they do that, the numbers stay steady.