Down for a Drink - Mourning Dove

The mourning dove is one of the commonest and most widespread birds in the inhabited part of North America. Although its cousin, the passenger pigeon, was pushed to extinction, the mourning dove has thrived. I am sure that there are more of them now than there were before Europeans came to this continent. In recent years I have noticed not only a general increase in our area but a substantial population which stays around all winter.

When I first started birding in my teens, I would start a New Year's list each January. I would seldom have a mourning dove before April. I now feel that it is almost a typical winter bird. This is why I portrayed it in a winter setting by a bit of open water, about to take a drink. Back lighting produces an effect that pleases me. In order to make the light outline of the head stand out, I have placed it against the dark water. The light bouncing up from the snow gives warm illumination to the shadow side of the bird and brings out the iridescent rosy neck feathers.