The mourning dove is the most hunted migratory game bird in North America, and one of the most abundant birds on the continent, with an estimated 300 to 400 million.
Built to fly
Doves are fast, twisting flyers, which is why they are famous for being missed. They feed on seeds on bare ground, so harvested grain fields and weedy fields draw them in.
A bird that replaces itself
Mourning doves can nest several times a year. Wildlife managers note that doves have a high natural death rate whether or not they are hunted, and federal managers use breeding and harvest surveys to set bag limits.
Other doves
White-winged doves are also native and hunted in parts of the South and Southwest, and some states allow hunting of the non-native Eurasian collared-dove. Each state sets its own rules on which doves count toward the limit.