Mourning Dove

high confidence

Zenaida macroura

The large bird perched atop the shepherd's-hook feeder pole shows the classic Mourning Dove profile: a small rounded head on a plump grayish-buff body, a long tapered pointed tail, dark spotting on the folded wing coverts, and a slender dark bill. It is standing beside a red metal cardinal ornament attached to the pole. In the lower right corner, a second real bird — a warm brown bird with reddish wings/tail and a stout conical bill — appears to be a female or immature Northern Cardinal.

Other possibilities:

Eurasian Collared-Dove (Streptopelia decaocto) — Similar size and pale gray-brown plumage, though it has a squared tail and black neck collar rather than the dove's long pointed tail and wing spots.
Northern Cardinal (female) (Cardinalis cardinalis) — The secondary bird at lower right, buff-brown with reddish wing and tail edges and a thick pinkish bill, fits a female or immature cardinal.

2026-08-26