The abundance of mourning doves in New York is comparable to many other states.
Mourning Dove Abundance in the Eastern Management Unit
Based on the mean of the 2 CCS-heard index values from 2009 & 2010, North Carolina had the highest annual count in the EMU with a mean of 41 doves per route (Fig. 3). Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, and South Carolina all had 20–30 doves. The rest of the EMU states (which includes New York) had 10–20 doves, with the exception of West Virginia, which had < 10 doves per route.
Take a look at the Central Management Unit:
North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, and Kansas had the most doves in the CMU based on the mean of the 2 CCS-heard index values from the last 2 years; values ranged from 44.1– 52.1 doves per route (Fig. 7). Other states in the CMU were between 13.9 and 27.8 doves, with the exception of Wyoming, which was the only state in the CMU with less than 10 (7.3) doves per route. |
The Mourning Dove Call-count Survey (CCS) was developed to provide an annual index of abundance specifically for mourning doves (Dolton 1993). This survey is based on work by McClure (1939) in Iowa. In the United States, the survey currently includes more than 1,000 randomly selected routes, stratified by physiographic region (Fenneman 1931, Dolton 1993). CCS routes are located on secondary roads and have 20 listening stations spaced at 1-mile intervals. At each stop, the number of individual doves heard calling, the number of doves seen, and the level of disturbance (noise) that impairs the observer’s ability to hear doves are recorded. Observers also record the number of doves seen while driving between stops. Counts begin one-half hour before sunrise and take about 2 hours to complete. Routes are run once between 20 May and 5 June. Surveys are not conducted when wind velocities exceed 12 miles per hour or when it is raining. The number of doves heard and seen during the CCS are recorded and analyzed separately. The total number of doves heard on each route is used to determine annual indices of abundance during the breeding season. Subsequently, trends in abundance over time are determined from these annual indices. A similar assessment is completed based on doves seen and results are also presented in this report, but only as supplemental information for comparison with indices and trends of doves heard.
Click HERE to view New York's increasing mourning dove abundance trend maps.