mourning dove

noun

1. a dove, Zenaidura macroura, of North America, noted for its plaintive cooing.

mourning dove

noun

1. a brown North American dove, Zenaidura macroura, with a plaintive song

Word History and Origins

Origin of mourning dove¹

An Americanism dating back to 1825–35

Example Sentences

One of the birds was a mourning dove and the other a European starling.

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And then, flash forward 30 or so years later, I’m like, “Oh wow, listen to those mourning doves!”

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Downtown's Pershing Square supports mourning doves, Vaux's swifts, gopher snakes and exotic streaktails, a type of fly that feeds on aphids.

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He had heard the woeful sounds of a mourning dove, but that was the wrong kind of pigeon.

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“We see ducks down here. They see frogs and turtles, different birds like red wing blackbirds and mourning doves,” Tursi said.

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