Mourning doves are beautiful birds with a large and loud voice. They have black feathers on their backs, tail, wings and head that contrast sharply with the white on their chest. Mourning dove paintings capture this well-known bird in striking detail.
The “mourning dove proof bird feeders” are a way to keep the mourning doves away from your bird feeders. The best thing about these bird feeders is that they can be made cheaply and easily.
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Though most birds are visually appealing, this does not imply that they are all. When we create a bird feeder, we want to attract the bright, colorful birds that we know and love to our backyard for a better viewing experience.
However, it’s possible that your bird feeder may attract the sorts of birds you don’t want to see. The mourning dove is one of them. The mourning dove is so named because it might signify death or sadness at the loss of a loved one.
Not only that, but mourning doves – and doves in general – may be harmful to the birds you wish to see in your yard. If left uncontrolled, doves will take over an entire bird feeding area, leaving you with nothing else to look at. Throughout the year, doves congregate near the edge of the feeder or bird bath, especially in the evening.
Remember that it is illegal to hurt birds in North America, so killing them is never an option unless you want to have a serious conversation with the police.
Keep Mourning Doves at Arms Length
If you have a platform feeder, you may be in for a struggle. However, there are a few things you can do to keep the mourning doves at bay so you can enjoy smaller, less invasive birds.
If you have a platform feeder, the first thing you need do is cover it with a roof. The ceiling should be between 8 and 10 inches tall, with each of the four sides of the feeding floor extending 4 or 5 inches broader.
Don’t worry, Cardinals, Bluejays, and other huge birds will still be able to fly in. Because mourning doves aren’t nimble enough to swoop beneath the roof and correctly leap onto the feeding floor, this strategy is effective at keeping them away.
They’ll most likely crash and fall, deterring them from returning to the region.
You may also acquire a wire fence with a couple of 4-inch gaps to let other birds in. Attach it to your platform feeder so that it rises to a height of 10 to 12 inches. Use a staple gun to fasten the fence on all sides so that it does not blow away in a heavy wind.
Cut away the leftover fence once you’ve done connecting the wire to provide access to both ends of the platform feeder. Zip ties should suffice to connect the ends of the fence sections to the arched parts.
You may either let it to stretch to the sides or just trim it down using wire cutters.
This works well since mourning doves aren’t as nimble as some other birds at landing and ducking within the wire cage. When they realize their food supply is no longer available, this should be enough to dissuade them from returning to the location.
Stop Trying To Attract Them
This is an excellent rule of thumb for anything in your yard that you no longer desire. Something draws them to your yard in the first place, so eliminate that source of appeal. It may be a safe haven, but it’s more likely to be a steady food supply.
Mourning doves usually eat from the ground. Cracked maize, black sunflower seeds, and red and white millet are their favorites. These sorts of food should not be used in bird feeders.
Even if they are unable to access the bird feeder, the spillage that falls to the ground may be sufficient to keep them attracted to the area.
Keep the bird feeder far away from the garden and home to protect particular places from the presence of mourning doves if you want to protect specific locations, not simply the bird feeder.
Last but not least, maintain your lawn weed-free. Weeds are ugly and may be invasive to other plants and flowers in the vicinity, so this is a given for many homeowners. Mourning doves, on the other hand, prefer weed seeds since they are a staple in their diet.
You may deter mourning doves from visiting your yard if you maintain it free of weeds and use gravel or mulch on a regular basis.
Stop provide them with food
Most species are seeking for food, shelter, or both. If you have bird feeders in your yard, this is most likely a source of food for mourning doves and the main reason they keep coming back.
Clean up any seeds that fall to the ground below the bird feeder, or maintain a mesh-covered tray beneath it to collect any seeds that fall outward. It could also be a good idea to keep your bird feeders empty for a week to deter mourning doves from returning.
Most importantly, this is a way that will not damage other birds that may visit the bird feeder.
If you wish to attract different types of birds to your feeder, you may try using different feeding strategies. To attract woodpeckers or birds that stick to the tree while eating, try spreading peanut butter-based bird food on some bark.
Even better, mourning doves aren’t attracted to this sort of food.
Switching to wire mesh bird feeders is also a good idea. We’ve previously discussed how to construct these, but you can save time and work by buying one that has already been built.
This allows smaller, more nimble birds to enter while keeping the bigger, less agile mourning pigeons out.
Scare tactics should be used.
If you don’t want to modify your diet or replace your bird feeders, you may always scare the mourning doves away by frightening them away.
Keep in mind that certain birds may get used to your scare techniques, so switching things up now and again might be the key to keeping them away for good.
Mourning doves have been known to disrupt sleep patterns and cause havoc on patio areas, so it’s worth attempting these scare tactics, even if they only work for a short time. You may try putting something bright and reflecting in the space.
Use pinwheels or bird balloons, which are designed to emit noise that repels birds. You may also keep birds at bay by using reflective tape, often known as bird-repelling tape.
Using a fake predator is never a bad idea, though the birds may eventually figure out that they aren’t the real thing. Posting fake owls around the yard and moving their positions from time to time can be a great way to Keep Mourning Doves at Arms Length from your bird feeders regularly.
Alter Your Habitat
Changing the bird’s environment may also be an effective technique to get rid of mourning doves. To keep doves from possibly perching near the places in search as well as their breeding locations, use mesh, netting, or harmless bird spikes.
You’ll want to put up your barriers before the start of the spring nesting season, particularly because disturbing the nests of any nesting bird, including mourning doves, is forbidden (unless you have a permit).
It should be enough to keep mourning doves away from the area if there isn’t enough perching space. This can help prevent your bird feeder from being taken over, as well as reduce the number of bird droppings in the region.
Pruning any trees or overhanging bushes in your yard aggressively is a good place to start. This should deter doves from laying eggs in the vicinity. Keep in mind, however, that a lack of covering may deter some species of other birds from visiting the area.
Understand the Consequences
While the primary goal is to keep mourning doves away from your feeders, bear in mind that these strategies may cause other birds to leave the area. Before you use any of these methods to get rid of mourning doves, make sure you know what other birds they can harm.
After all, the bird feeder’s whole function is to attract birds to your yard. If your tactics for removing the mourning doves also keep the other birds away, the point of having a bird feeder is nullified.
Be on the lookout, be assertive, and be sure to address any possible issues before the spring nesting season begins.
By doing all of these actions, you should be able to at least reduce the dove issue in your yard while also creating a safe environment for the more colorful and vivid birds you adore.
The “how to get rid of unwanted doves” is a question that has been asked many times. There are many different ways to keep the doves away from your bird feeders and garden.
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