{"id":39541,"date":"2016-05-16T06:05:43","date_gmt":"2016-05-16T12:05:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=39541"},"modified":"2025-05-22T16:22:04","modified_gmt":"2025-05-22T21:22:04","slug":"the-subdued-beauty-of-mourning-doves","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/05\/16\/the-subdued-beauty-of-mourning-doves\/","title":{"rendered":"The Subdued Beauty of Mourning Doves"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"BoxBox Elder County Mourning Dove male – Nikon D810, f7.1, 1\/2000, ISO 400, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

The subdued beauty of Mourning Doves is often overlooked especially if there are more colorful birds around but for me their beauty is undeniable. I see the doves at home but prefer to photograph them in areas that are wilder and where I can find them on natural perches of all kinds.<\/p>\n

\"MourningMourning Dove on a lichen covered boulder – Nikon D810, f7.1, 1\/1600, ISO 400, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Last week I photographed this male Mourning Dove on a lichen covered boulder in Box Elder County<\/span><\/a> and I loved how the images showed the pink and gold iridescent colors on his neck. The iridescence is subtle but delightful to my eyes.<\/p>\n

The bright lichens in these images are in sharp contrast with the subdued colors of the dove and the out of focus grasses in the background and I almost wish they weren’t quite as bright as they are because they do draw my eyes away from the dove at times.<\/p>\n

\"MaleMale Mourning Dove about to take flight- Nikon D810, f7.1, 1\/1600, ISO 400, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I enjoy looking at the earthy tones of the dove’s plumage, its shape, pointed tail, that tiny bill and the pastel blue orbital ring around its ebony eyes. Their beauty whispers like a soft spring breeze. I’m glad I spotted and pointed out these beautiful doves.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Mourning Dove photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The subdued beauty of Mourning Doves is often overlooked especially if there are more colorful birds around but for me their beauty is undeniable.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":146126,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,1148,1189,26],"tags":[4004,9650,4138,3763,3764,9651,2148,2151,3291,4062,1190,5026,4104,9652,9649,9653,1191],"class_list":["post-39541","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-box-elder-county-utah","category-mourning-doves","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-beauty","tag-boulder","tag-dove","tag-doves","tag-earthy-tones","tag-iridescence","tag-iridescent-colors","tag-lichen","tag-male","tag-mourning-dove","tag-orbital-ring","tag-perched","tag-pointed-tail","tag-subdued","tag-tiny-bill","tag-zenaida-macroura"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/mourning-dove-lichen-adult-mia-mcpherson-8964.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-ahL","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":102008,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/05\/01\/mourning-doves-on-lichen-covered-rocks\/","url_meta":{"origin":39541,"position":0},"title":"Mourning Doves On Lichen Covered Rocks","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"May 1, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"I had mere seconds to take this photo of a pair of Mourning Doves perched on lichen covered rocks on a desert cliff face in Box Elder County yesterday morning.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Pair of Mourning Doves on lichen covered rocks, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/mourning-doves-wildflowers-lichen-mia-mcpherson-9790.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/mourning-doves-wildflowers-lichen-mia-mcpherson-9790.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/mourning-doves-male-female-mia-mcpherson-9593.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/mourning-doves-male-female-mia-mcpherson-9593.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/mourning-doves-male-female-mia-mcpherson-9593.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/mourning-doves-male-female-mia-mcpherson-9593.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":123016,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/03\/07\/mourning-dove-calls-sounds-of-spring\/","url_meta":{"origin":39541,"position":2},"title":"Mourning Dove Calls – Sounds Of Spring","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 7, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"While I was sitting at my desk yesterday afternoon, when the sun was shining a bit, I heard one of the sounds of spring: Mourning Dove calls outside my window.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Adult Mourning Dove on an old fence rail, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/mourning-dove-old-fence-rail-mia-mcpherson-5123.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/mourning-dove-old-fence-rail-mia-mcpherson-5123.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/mourning-dove-old-fence-rail-mia-mcpherson-5123.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/mourning-dove-barbed-wire-fence-mia-mcpherson-0292.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/mourning-dove-barbed-wire-fence-mia-mcpherson-0292.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/mourning-dove-barbed-wire-fence-mia-mcpherson-0292.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/mourning-dove-barbed-wire-fence-mia-mcpherson-0292.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":71926,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/07\/14\/simple-mourning-dove-photos\/","url_meta":{"origin":39541,"position":4},"title":"Simple Mourning Dove Photos","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 14, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Worldwide doves symbolize peace and I felt that I could use a little of that feeling this morning so I decided to share some Mourning Dove images I took two days ago in northern Utah.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Male Mourning Dove perched on a barbed wire fence, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/mourning-dove-male-mia-mcpherson-3369.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/mourning-dove-male-mia-mcpherson-3369.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/mourning-dove-male-mia-mcpherson-3369.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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It was in the upper 20s when I photographed this flock of doves.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Urban Mourning Dove foraging on a cold morning, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/mourning-dove-urban-fall-mia-mcpherson-5578.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/mourning-dove-urban-fall-mia-mcpherson-5578.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/mourning-dove-urban-fall-mia-mcpherson-5578.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/mourning-dove-urban-fall-mia-mcpherson-5578.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39541","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39541"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39541\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/146126"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39541"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39541"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39541"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}