Mourning Dove Population Status Reports

Maintenance of dove populations in a healthy, productive state is a primary management goal for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Management activities include population assessment, harvest regulation, and habitat management. Each year, tens of thousands of doves are banded and thousands of wings from harvested doves are analyzed to estimate annual survival, harvest rates, recruitment, and abundance, which is presented in these annual reports. The resulting information is used by wildlife managers in setting annual hunting regulations.