A frequent visitor to my feeding station are common ground doves (Columbina passerina), the smallest doves in the United States. They really are cute little things, and they do most of their feeding on or near the ground, which is how they got their name. They strut along on fairly short legs picking up the seeds that the other birds and the squirrels have dropped. Every once in a while one will come up onto the rail where I put the seed, but they are easily run off by the squirrels.

This little one was perched up in the oak tree above the feeding station and was watching everything that was going on. Eventually, when the others had spilled enough, she flew down and helped herself. One definite advantage to feeding on the ground is that she had a lot less competition. There was only one other dove on the ground and it was only there part of the time. It’s a bit more dangerous being down there, especially when the dogs are out, but they’re so noisy most of the time that the wildlife has plenty of warning. And they’re all old enough now so that they couldn’t catch anything even if they tried. I rather enjoy watching the birds and the squirrels and seeing who comes and goes. It’s especially interesting to watch how they all interact with each other.