Serious question, is it normal for mourning doves to hog the feeder for 45 minutes straight?

I put out fresh sunflower seeds last Tuesday morning and one fat dove just sat there eating nonstop while a pair of chickadees waited on the fence, so has anyone else dealt with a bully dove situation in their yard?

2 comments

2 Comments

jason_robinson6d ago

I had one dove last spring that camped out on my tray feeder for almost an hour, and I swear it was the same bird every day at the same time. It was so fat it looked like it had a personal vendetta against the chickadees waiting on the fence line. I mean, I ended up putting out a second feeder on the opposite side of the yard just so the smaller birds could eat in peace. Maybe it's just me, but I've accepted that doves are basically the couch potatoes of the bird world, and they're not giving up that spot without a fight.

jade2716d ago

Last Tuesday I counted 47 minutes straight from one dove on my sunflower feeder, and I used to think people were exaggerating about this. Jason_robinson you nailed it with the couch potato comparison, I never realized how lazy they really are until I saw a dove take a break just to puff up and chase off a blue jay that tried to land. I have two feeders now too, one on each side of the yard, and it mostly works but that one fat dove still finds a way to sit on both of them throughout the morning. No joke, I watched it waddle across the ground to the other feeder like it was on a mission.