Mourning The Mourning Dove

by Patricia Collier

Its song is soft and plaintive, weaving a wistful aura around those who hear it. The pleasure of the mourning dove's call is the reason states like Wisconsin and Michigan long ago designated the songbird an official symbol of peace.

Yet, in 38 states, the mourning dove, which mates for life, is considered nothing more than another game bird. According to the Wisconsin Dove Hunters, "Doves are America's most popular game birds."

Efforts by pro-hunting interests in other states to change the mourning dove's classification from songbird to game bird are active, yet often stall as hunters and animal rights groups collide on the issue.

The lines appear drawn in the sand, and in Wisconsin, the matter is now in the courts. The state Supreme Court is still trying to decide whether hunting mourning doves should be made legal.

In 2001 the Wisconsin Citizens Concerned for Cranes and Doves (WCCCD) sued the state to stop dove hunts. They won, but an appeals court ruling overturned the decision.

The Wisconsin Citizens, which is not an anti-hunting group but rather a coalition of bird lovers, hunters, non-hunters, and animal activists, claims to have over 300 members and associates.

Taking issue with mourning doves being hunted for sport, the WCCCD appealed the ruling of the court, sending the matter to the state Supreme Court.

But while judges pondered the issue, the hunt went on as planned. Officials from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) recently reported 202,000 of the birds were killed in last fall's first mourning dove hunting season, which drew approximately 24,000 hunters.

Wisconsin isn't the only state battling against pushing the mourning dove from songbird to hunted bird status. According to the Songbird Protection Coalition (SPC) Web site, Michigan's House Bill 5029 "tries to remove the mourning dove as a protected songbird in Michigan and list it as a game species in order to create a new shooting season."

Hearing on the bill has been pushed back, but action is expected to commence again in January of 2004.

Mourning doves have been protected since 1905 in Michigan and SPC said "the majority of citizens, including the majority of Michigan hunters, overwhelmingly oppose the hunting of doves in Michigan."

According to STD, fossils can trace mourning doves back 1.8 million years in the Americas. Such a noble lineage proves the gentle birds have been adaptable and "successfully coexisted with man throughout the centuries."

The year 2004 may be pivotal in determining whether or not they'll be permitted to continue to coexist.

© 2004 Animal News Center, Inc.