A mourning dove is a common wild bird found throughout North America, named for its sad, gentle cooing sound that resembles someone sighing or quietly mourning. When you hear a soft “ooh-wooo-woo-woo” from the trees on a quiet morning, that's likely a mourning dove calling.

These birds are about a foot long with soft gray-brown feathers, small heads, and long, pointed tails. They're remarkably fast fliers: when they take off, their wings make a distinctive whistling sound. You might spot them walking on the ground in parks or backyards, bobbing their heads as they search for seeds.

Despite their melancholy name and voice, mourning doves are successful, adaptable birds. They live in cities, suburbs, farms, and forests. They mate for life and are devoted parents, though their nests (loose piles of twigs) can look barely sturdy enough to hold anything. Mourning doves can raise up to six broods of chicks per year, making them one of North America's most abundant birds.

The “mourning” in their name comes from their sorrowful song, not from any actual sadness. They're sometimes called turtle doves, though true turtle doves are a different species found in Europe and Asia.