Letters to the Editor: No more mourning doves? Not in these parts of Southern California

To the editor: Reporter Daniel Miller laments the decline in mourning doves around his Los Angeles home. May I suggest that he come east a few miles to Norwalk?

I live just above Imperial Highway, and I have not only mourning doves, but also ring-necked doves, bushtits, house wrens, hummingbirds, scrub jays as well as sparrows and mockingbirds. This all started by feeding sparrows. When you feed sparrows, mourning doves come too.

I recall growing up in El Monte; we had mourning dove cooing all the time. It’s a sound for which my heart yearns. I had no idea when I started feeding sparrows how rich the bird life could be around me.

We also have crows, and starlings are starting to come in. When I hear them, I go outside and bang two rocks together and tell them they are not wanted in my neighborhood. The crows pretty much leave me alone, but I’m still working on the starlings.

Pam Evans, Norwalk

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To the editor: Climate change has something to do with declining mourning dove numbers, I am sure, but another big contributor is crows that raid their nests. Another — and I hate to say this — is cats.

I have seen many times crows stealing young mourning doves and cats stalking them. It is so sad, because they are beautiful, gentle birds.

We used to have a pair on our property, but I have not seen them in several weeks. I can only hope for the best.

Joan Nester, Los Angeles

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To the editor: As I write this, five mourning doves are pecking away at the feed I scattered by the bird bath in my yard. These are two couples and a single bird (in mourning?) who arrive daily.

Give and it shall be given to you.

JoAnn Broecker, Upland