Primary Feather Molt of Adult Mourning Doves in North and South Carolina

Abstract

Examination of 8,141 adult mourning doves (Zenaida macroura) in North and South Carolina revealed that substantial numbers complete primary feather molt in September. Adult mourning doves shed primaries at the rate of 1 per 14 days. No difference was found in this rate between sexes or among years, 1969-74. The initiation of molt differed from year to year, and female molt always preceded male molt. Available data show that southern doves complete primary molt a month earlier than northern doves. Therefore, age based on primary molt can be biased upward if all molt-complete wings from southern hunting samples are considered immature. J. WILDL. MANAGE. 43(1):202-207 Indices of mourning dove reproductive success can be derived from age ratios obtained through hunter bag surveys. This information combined with indices of breeding population size allows biologists to evaluate trends in both population size and annual production. Biologists segregate immature and adult doves by wing plumage characteristics. After the completion of annual wing molt, such identification becomes impossible. Currently, molt-complete doves are considered to be immatures in September, because in a Missouri study of adult mourning dove primary feather molt, 97.5% of the adults had not completed primary molt until October (Sadler et al. 1970). The number of molt-complete doves averaged 6.2% in the Eastern Management Unit Dove Wing Collection Survey for the 1967-70 September hunting seasons (J. L. Rous, pers. comm.). If the Missouri findings do not apply to the entire range of the mourning dove, the possibility of age ratio error exists. This study was undertaken to document adult primary molt in North and South Carolina, examine variability in rate of molt among years and between sexes, predict the earliest dates at which adults complete primary molt, and compare this study's findings with the earlier Missouri study (Sadler et al. 1970). We express our gratitude to R. A. Coon, D. H. Johnson, and R. E. Tomlinson, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and K. C. Sadler, Missouri Department of Conservation, for many helpful suggestions regarding data analysis and manuscript preparation.