Habitat variables correlated with mourning dove (Zenaida macroura) call counts on 133 random transects differed between ecological areas. Whether or not a particular habitat variable was correlated with call counts appeared to depend upon the abundance and distribution of the other habitat types and structural features present. If 1 or more of the requisites for dove survival and reproduction (food, water, cover, nest sites) was limited, habitat types and structural features which provided them were usually positively correlated with call counts. Conversely, abundant habitat types which did not provide all of these requisites were usually negatively correlated with call counts. Results may be useful in improving habitat for breeding mourning doves within the Southeast, Great Plains, and Southwest. J. WILDL. MANAGE. 47(1):186-195 The mourning dove has the widest range of any game bird in the United States. It is the only one to nest in all contiguous 48 states and is the most important game bird species in North America in terms of numbers and hunter harvest (Keeler 1977). Management in the United States has been almost entirely restricted to control of harvest based on fluctuations in breeding populations monitored nationwide by call-count surveys (Dolton 1977). While some breeding populations have decreased (Dolton 1977), hunter harvest within the United States has increased to more than 49 million doves (Keeler 1977). If demand for use of the dove resource continues to increase, habitat management may become essential. Studies on the mourning dove that may be useful in establishing guidelines for management of its breeding habitat within a variety of vegetation types are lacking. Field studies have demonstrated the feasibility of using call counts to detect annual changes in mourning dove populations (Foote and Peters 1952). Each callcount transect consists of 20 listening points (3-min stops) at 1.6-km intervals along secondary roads (Dolton 1977). Population indices derived from these surveys are believed to be biologically and statistically sound for detecting annual changes in breeding dove densities (Dolton 1977). If the number of doves heard calling reflects the density of doves within the radius of audibility (50.8 km, Davey 1953), it may be possible to determine the habitat variables associated with different densities during the breeding season. The objective of our study was to identify those habitat variables correlated with dove densities obtained from call-count surveys. Texas was well suited for such a study because of its size and habitat diversity (Godfrey et al. 1967, Gould 1975). This research was funded by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Caesar Kleberg Research Program in Wildlife Ecology, and the Agricultural Experiment Station, Texas A&M University, in cooperation with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Texas Agricultural Experiment Station Technical Article 14075. 2 Present address: Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, Laurel, MD 20708. 3 Present address: Espey-Huston and Associates, Austin, TX 78732. 186 J. Wildl. Manage. 47(1):1983 This content downloaded from 157.55.39.175 on Thu, 11 Aug 2016 06:14:16 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms HABITAT VARIABLES ON MOURNING DOVE CALL-COUNT ROUTES * Grue et al. 187 Department. We thank J. H. Dunks, J. T. Robertson, and other personnel of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department for providing the call-count data, T. L. Blankenship, S. A. Cooper, and V. H. Silvy for help with the habitat surveys, C. M. Bunck for statistical assistance, and S. L. Beasom, C. E. Braun, F. E. Smeins, and W. G. Swank for review of the manuscript. This paper constitutes part of a dissertation by the senior author.