disturbing mourning doves building a nest (1 Viewer)

hello everyone. i am not a birder, but a city girl with a bird concern! this morning i saw a mourning dove sitting in my window box. i opened the window to continue with my morning task of spring cleaning the window and saw that it was building a nest. the bird then flew away, and she and her mate puffed up at me from a nearby wire. then, they disappeared...and have not returned all day.

i feel quite terrible about this, as i didn't mean to interrupt their building. many sparrows and such stop by my window boxes so i didn't realize this was a unique occasion. i placed some twigs from the mint plant i was trimming in another box in the doves' windowbox, hoping to "help" them along. but they haven't been lured back.

are they gone for good??

thanks for your thoughts....
sad in new york

Hi there and a warm welcome to you from those of us on staff here at BirdForum

Hard to say, but you might try staying away from the window a bit or do as my son did in NYC by putting a tint film on the inside of the window of his Manhattan apt and watched Peregrines nesting and they had no idea he was watching.

hi KC, thanks for the reply! awesome that your son got to watch peregrines! i have great news...the mother bird is back in the window box sitting away! we are keeping our distance and peeking through the window. i'd be happy to post to this forum with updates on their progress

Wonderful! Glad to hear it and yes, please keep us updatedl