When you think of doves and pigeons, chances are your mind goes straight to the familiar Rock Pigeon strutting along city sidewalks—or maybe a white dove released at a wedding. But there’s a lot more to this family than street smarts and symbolism. In Ontario, members of the Columbidae family include a variety of native and introduced species, each with its own unique voice, habitat, and flair.
From the soulful hoot-like cooing of the Mourning Dove to the flashy wing-claps of the White-winged Dove, doves and pigeons are more than just background birds—they’re deeply woven into both our ecosystems and our cultural history. Some, like the ubiquitous Rock Pigeon (Columba livia), were introduced centuries ago and have adapted brilliantly to urban life. Others, like the beautiful Band-tailed Pigeon (Patagioenas fasciata), stick to forested mountain slopes and live far from human commotion.
You’ll also find surprising behavior among them: aerial displays, powerful navigation skills (pigeons are legendary for their homing ability), and even subtle sexual dimorphism if you know what to look for. Despite their soft, rounded appearance, these birds are built for endurance—many doves are long-distance migrants and strong fliers.
Find out about all the doves and pigeons in Ontario, listed in frequency of sighting according to sightings by birders submitted to www.ebird.org—from the familiar to the elusive. Whether you’re peering through binoculars in a pine forest or sipping coffee in a city park, there’s probably a member of Columbidae nearby, quietly cooing its way into your life list.
1. Mourning Dove
Mourning Doves can be spotted all year in Ontario but are more common during the breeding season. They are recorded in 36% of summer checklists and 27% of winter checklists submitted by bird watchers for the province.
Mourning Doves are graceful small-headed birds with plump bodies and long tails. They are a soft brown color with black spots on the wings. Males are slightly heavier than females.
- Zenaida macroura
- Length: 9.1-13.4 in (23-34 cm)
- Weight: 3.0 -6.0 oz (96-170 g)
- Wingspan: 17.7 in (45 cm)
Mourning Doves are common over all of the lower 48 all year but may migrate after breeding from the north of the Midwest and southern Canada.
Mourning Doves can be seen perching on telephone wires and foraging for seeds on the ground in grasslands, fields, and backyards. They can also be found in open areas or woodland edges.
Mourning Dove call:
Attract Mourning Doves to your backyard by scattering millet on the ground or platform feeders. They will also eat black sunflower seeds, nyjer, cracked corn, and peanut hearts.
2. Rock Pigeon
Rock Pigeons are an introduced species in Ontario and are residents of the province all year. They appear in up to 10% of summer checklists and 14% of winter checklists.
Rock Pigeons are well recognized around towns and parks and are usually blueish gray with two black bands on the wing and black on the tail tip. They have iridescent throat feathers and orange eyes.
However, they can also be white, spotted, or red.
- Columba livia
- Length: 11.8-14.2 in (30-36 cm)
- Weight: 9.3-13.4 oz (265-380 g)
- Wingspan: 19.7-26.4 in (50-67 cm)
Rock Pigeons do not migrate and can be found in all US states, southern Canada, and the Pacific Coast to Alaska.
You can find Rock Pigeons in cities, parks, and backyards, especially if there is birdseed on the ground. Some cities have ordinances against feeding pigeons as they are considered pests.
Rock Pigeon Call:
Fun Fact: Rock Pigeons have an amazing ability to find their way home using the earth’s magnetic field.
3. White-winged Dove
White-winged Doves are considered rare or accidental species in Ontario but there have been sightings in the south of the province from April to February.
White-winged Doves are pale gray-brown with a black line on the cheek and a white stripe on the edge of the closed wing, which is striking to see on the middle of their dark wing in flight. Males and females look the same.
- Zenaida asiatica
- Weight: 4.4-6.6 oz (125-187 g)
- Wingspan: 18.9-22.8 in (48-58 cm)
White-winged Doves breed along the southern border with Mexico and are resident in Mexico, Central America, and the West Indies. Those to the north of the range may move south towards the Gulf Coast or into Mexico for winter.
You can find White-winged Doves in deserts, dense, thorny forests, woodlands, and suburban areas. Their diet is mostly grain, fruits, and large seeds, and they forage on the ground.
White-winged Dove Call:
Attract White-winged Doves to your yard with sunflower, corn, safflower, and milo on platform feeders. Also, plant native berry-producing shrubs.
4. Eurasian Collared-Dove
Eurasian Collared-Doves are occasionally spotted in the south of Ontario all year but they are considered rare or accidental species in the province.
Eurasian Collared-Doves are light brownish-gray, with white patches in the tail, and look very similar to Mourning Doves, but with a black half collar at the nape of the neck. They are also larger and with a square tail rather than pointed.
- Streptopelia decaocto
- Length: 11.4-11.8 in (29-30 cm)
- Weight: 4.9-6.3 oz (140-180 g)
- Wingspan: 13.8 in (35 cm)
Eurasian Collared-Doves are an introduced species that only arrived in the 1980s but now live across most of the United States.
You can find Eurasian Collared-Doves in most areas, including rural and suburban and they eat a wide variety of seeds and grain but also eat some berries and insects.
Eurasian Collared-Dove song:
5. Band-tailed Pigeon
Band-tailed Pigeons are extremely rare in Ontario and are considered accidental species in the province. They have not been spotted here for a long time.
Band-tailed Pigeons are defined by their tail band and the shiny, scaly feathers on their necks.
Adult Band-tailed Pigeons are medium-sized birds whose heads and breasts are colored pinkish-purple. Some may appear grayish-purple, too. They have a white band next to the green, shiny, scale-looking feathers on their necks.
Their backs and wings are bluish-gray. Their bills are yellow with a dark tip. The upper half of their tails are dark gray gradually fading to a pale gray band. Their legs and feet are yellow.
Juvenile Band-tailed Pigeons are more bluish-gray overall compared to adults. They also lack the white crescent and the scaly feathers on their necks. Their backs and wings have a light scalloped pattern with dark wingtips.
- Patagioenas fasciata
- Length: 13 – 16 in (33 – 40 cm)
- Weight: 7.9 – 18.02 oz (225 – 515 g)
- Wingspan: 26 in (66 cm)
Band-tailed Pigeons range from southwestern Canada down to South America, predominantly on the west coasts.
You can find Band-tailed Pigeons in oak and pine forests with abundant acorns and berries. They are nomadic and follow where the food is so they may go out of their common range in search of food.
Band-tailed Pigeons mostly eat seeds, berries, and fruits which they pick off from the ground or in trees. They forage in flocks collecting grain seeds, wild fruits, acorns, and pine nuts. They drink water from natural springs and bodies of water with high mineral salts in the summer.
Band-tailed Pigeon calls:
Nests of Band-tailed Pigeons are built on top of sturdy tree limbs high above the ground. The nests are flat or saucer-shaped and made of intertwined twigs, needles, moss, and breast feathers. The female lays one or two eggs and both adults incubate the eggs for twenty days.
Attract Band-tailed Pigeons to your backyard by putting out seeds and planting berry bushes and fruit trees.
Fun Fact: In North America, there are two breeding grounds for the Band-tailed Pigeon. The first is in the wet forests of the Pacific Coast and the second is in the mountain forests of the Southwest.
6. Common Ground Dove
Common Ground Doves are accidental species in Ontario. They are extremely rare in the province and were last spotted around Tommy Thompson Park in 2019.
Common Ground Doves are the smallest doves in North America.
Male Common Ground Doves have grayish crowns, pinkish heads, necks, and upper breasts with a scaled pattern. Their bills are either pink or red with a dark tip. Their backs and wings are brown with some dark brown patches on the wings.
In flight, their reddish-brown underwings are more obvious. Their underparts are pinkish-brown or pinkish-gray. Legs and feet are also pinkish.
Female Common Ground Doves have a similar pattern but their coloring is more evenly grayish-brown.
- Columbina passerina
- Length: 5.9 – 7.1 in (15 – 18 cm)
- Weight: 0.92 – 1.41 oz (26 – 40 g)
- Wingspan: 11 in (27 cm)
Common Ground Doves live from Mexico to northern South America and the southern US states and the Caribbean.
You can find Common Ground Doves in dry and open areas with tall grasses or groves of trees, like forest edges, deserts, oak scrublands, and lake shores. They also inhabit residential neighborhoods, orchards, ranch yards, and farm fields.
Common Ground-Doves are voracious ground feeders. They continuously eat while moving on the ground. They primarily eat seeds from wild grasses and weeds and berries and fruits from shrubs and trees. They may also eat snail shells for their calcium needs during nesting.
Common Ground Dove calls:
Nests of Common Ground Doves may be on the ground or on bushes, low tree branches, stumps, and fence posts. Their nests are simple, shallow scrapes lined with grasses, rootlets, and pine needles. Nests in trees are constructed out of twigs or pine needles. The female lays one to three eggs and will incubate them for about two weeks.
Attract Common Ground Doves to your backyard using commercial bird seed, canary seed, buckwheat, sorghum, and other seeds. They feel comfortable when there are a few shrubs to provide cover and open space around their water source.
Fun Fact: Common Ground Doves feed “crop milk”, a secretion from their esophagus, to feed their young.
7. Inca Dove
Inca Doves are considered an accidental species in Ontario and according to records, they have not been spotted in a number of years.
Inca Doves are small and slender birds that are as comfortable in human surroundings as they are in the desert.
Inca Doves are generally tan, sandy brown, or brownish-gray all over, enabling them to blend in with their desert-like environments. Their feathers have darkened tips that give them a scaled pattern.
They have dark bills and buffy underparts. Their rusty red wing feathers are more obvious during flight. They have rounded tails with white outer tail feathers.
Males and females and juveniles and adults are very similar. The main difference is that adults have dark red eyes while juveniles have pale yellow.
- Columbina inca
- Length: 6.5 – 9.1 in (16.5 – 23 cm)
- Weight: 1.1 – 2.0 oz (30 – 58 g)
- Wingspan: 11.2 – 12.6 in (28.5 – 32 cm)
Inca Doves mainly live in Mexico and Central America but they are also found in southern US states.
You can find Inca Doves in dry, open areas like deserts and scrublands. They are also at home in urban environments like cities, towns, parks, and farms especially if they have shrub cover, scattered trees, and accessible water sources.
Inca Doves forage for food mostly on the ground but also frequent bird feeders. They normally eat seeds from grains, weeds, and grasses. They also need to drink water daily so they visit pools, dripping faucets, and eat moist fruits on cacti.
Inca Dove calls:
Nests of Inca Doves are often found in trees and shrubs up to about fifty feet above the ground. In urban sites, they may nest on utility poles, houses, and other buildings. Both parents work together in building the nest out of twigs, grass, leaves, and strips of bark.
They line the nests with grass and feathers and over time, the nest also becomes stronger from their excrement.
Though they build their own nests, sometimes they also reuse old nests left by Northern Mockingbirds, Mourning Doves, and Cactus Wrens.
The female lays only two eggs but both parents take turns in incubating them for as many as thirteen to fifteen days. When they hatch, they are fed “pigeon milk” exclusively for the first few days. After twelve to sixteen days, the young leave the nest.
Attract Inca Doves to your backyard by offering black oil sunflower seeds, cracked corn, millet, and nyjer seeds.
Fun Fact: Inca Doves huddle together in a pyramid formation when they feel cold. Pyramids can contain up to twelve birds.
8. Oriental Turtle-Dove
Oriental Turtle-Doves have only been spotted in Ontario once and it was a long time ago.
Oriental Turtle Doves have a wide distribution range with at least six named subspecies. They are considered vagrants in North America.
Oriental Turles Doves have grayish-blue foreheads and pinkish-brown crowns. Their eyes are reddish-brown and their bills are grayish. Their breasts and bellies are pale pinkish-brown. There are black and white silvery-striped patches on the sides of their necks.
Their backs and wings are dark brown with orangey edges giving them a scalloped or scaly pattern. Their tails are brown and wedge-shaped. Their legs and feet are dark red.
- Streptopelia orientalis
- Length: 11.8 – 13.7 in (30 – 35 cm)
- Weight: 5.64 – 9.87 oz (160 – 280 g)
- Wingspan:
As their name would suggest Oriental Turtle Doves are usually found in Asia, but there are occasional sightings in Canada and the United States.
You can find Oriental Turtle Doves breeding in well-wooded but open habitats. They may also stay within cultivated fields, flooded agricultural lands, rural gardens, and urban areas. They favor lowland forest and boreal and moist shrubland environments.
Oriental Turtle Doves usually eat seeds. They particularly like grains, cereals, wild seeds, green shoots, and herbs.
Oriental Turtle-Dove calls:
Nests of Oriental Turtle Doves are placed at mid-canopy height to avoid predation. Nests are built by both parents with the males bringing the materials, like twigs and sticks, and the females constructing the nest. The female lays two eggs and they take fifteen to sixteen days to hatch.
Fun Fact: The Japanese name for Oriental Turtle Doves is “Kiji-Bato” which literally means “Pheasant Pigeon”.
9. White-crowned Pigeon
White-crowned Pigeons are extremely rare birds to see in Ontario but they have been accepted by the Ontario Field Ornithologists as accidental species under their review list.
White-crowned Pigeons are renowned strong fliers having to travel long flights over water.
White-crowned Pigeons are aptly named for their white crowns against a grayish or blackish body. In proper lighting, they also have a glossy, green-scale pattern on the backs and sides of their necks. They have pale eyes and red bills with pale tips. They have red legs and feet.
Females may have a grayish-white crown compared to males. Juveniles are pale gray or brown and lack the greenish patch on their napes. They also lack the pale white eyes of adults.
- Length: 13.0 -13.8 in (33 – 35 cm)
- Weight: 7.8 – 9.9 oz (220 – 280 g)
- Wingspan: 23.2 (59 cm)
White-crowned Pigeons do not migrate and are found in the Caribbean and surrounding coasts of North, South and Central America.
You can find White-crowned Pigeons in low-lying coastal and mangrove forests. They may live individually or as part of dense nest colonies. Recently, they have been seen in urban areas possibly due to habitat loss from hurricanes. It’s easier to see them when they’re flying during their morning and evening commutes.
White-crowned Pigeons will usually travel to areas with fruit-bearing trees for food. They feed while perched near treetops and feast on ripe fruit, flies, seeds, and small snails. They may occasionally move lower down the tree or feed from the ground.
White-crowned Pigeon calls:
Nests of White-crowned Pigeons are built on the forks of low mangroves or shrubs. They may be up to thirty feet above the ground or water or on the ground in small islands where there are hardly any predators. Nests are loose platforms of twigs.
The female lays one to three eggs but the incubation period is not well known.
Fun Facts: White-crowned Pigeons sometimes travel more than 30 miles in search of fruiting trees.
White-crowned Pigeons are a species with declining populations due to habitat destruction and hunting.
