I've always loved mourning doves. I feel like I can relate to them the most out of all the birds I encounter in our yard. They're shy and gentle, and things tend to make them nervous. They're sweet, though, and they stick with their partner and tend to quietly sit on a branch watch the bluejays eat all the peanuts. The bluejays all fend for themselves.
The cardinals are much sweeter than the bluejays, but even so - the male always goes after the peanuts and I've even seen him steal one from his female partner.
It is only the mourning doves who I see quietly sitting together. One does not attempt to get food without the other one. They are unlike many animals in that sense. I feel like they know something about love. Or each other, or life in general. There is one mourning dove who, every time I go for a walk around the neighborhood, I see sitting by herself on the telephone wire near our house. I wonder what happened to her partner. I can tell that she is lonely. The one or two times I've talked to her, she's gotten nervous and flown away making that cloud of noises - bustling wings and scared little cries - that mourning doves always make in departure.
Last winter I had an idea for a painting involving a morning dove. I think it will be coming out soon.
Love,
Amanda
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