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On 15 March 2022, along a path through the riparian woodland in the Billy Frank Jr National Wildlife Refuge, Erika and I photographed a Mourning Dove collecting sticks. We see this species often enough in Olympia, but this dove does not seem as common as elsewhere in the country. Mourning Dove nests are notoriously poorly constructed—usually just a bunch to sticks piled together in a tree or bush. The twigs this individual collected seemed remarkably thin, perhaps to line the interior of the nest. Males collect nesting material and bring it to the females, who do the actual nesting building, usually with the male standing on her back!
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