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Platte River Status: An abundant migrant and nesting species; occasional winter resident in the eastern half of the area. Tout (1947) reported one midwinter record from Lincoln County; the main period of residence there is 22 March to 17 November. Rosche (1979) recorded mourning dove in the lower North Platte River Valley during 28 March to 15 October.

Breeding Range: An abundant nesting species locally in the Platte River Valley and Eastern Plain. Common on the Dissected Plain and Western Plain, and fairly common in the Sandhills.

Breeding Population: The population in 1979-1980 was estimated at 180,000 breeding pairs. Mourning dove ranked fifth in abundance among all bird species present, and made up 6.1% of the total bird population.

Habitat: Mourning doves reached their highest mean breeding density in shelterbelt (536 pairs/km²), followed by lowland forest (44.7 pairs/km²), river channel island (28.6 pairs/km²), residential (20.2 pairs/km²), prairie wetland (17.3 pairs/km²), alfalfa (12.1 pairs/km²), wet prairie (7.9 pairs/km²), domestic hayland (6.7 pairs/km²), upland prairie (4.9 pairs/km²), wheat (1.0 pairs/km²), and corn (1.0 pairs/km²). Frates (1963) observed that mourning doves nesting on a Hamilton County study area chose Rocky Mountain cedar trees most often for nest placement. Graber and Graber (1963) stated that no other breeding birds in Illinois exhibited a broader ecological distribution than did mourning dove. This species was found nesting and foraging in virtually all terrestrial shrub, and arboreal habitats in Illinois. Maximum densities included 356 doves/km² in edge shrubs, and 244/km² in hedgerows.

Effect of Habitat Alteration: Mourning dove has benefited greatly from alteration of native habitats in the study area, especially from planting of shelterbelts, and establishment of agricultural fields that are exploited for their food resource.

Nesting Data: We have located 31 active nests in the study area. Egg dates range from 9 May to 4 September. Most active nests were located in June. Frates (1963) found a mean clutch size of 1.7 eggs among 46 nesting attempts in Hamilton County. Fifty-six eggs (71%) hatched from which 38 young (68%) fledged. The number of young per successful nest in Frates study area was 1.2. Peak nesting activity in Hamilton County was about 20 June.