Doves are such common birds in agricultural areas that it's easy to assume they are abundant everywhere, but this is not so. Doves are adapted to open country, and are most abundant in the naturally open grasslands of the central prairie states. In the Southeast, which would be forested under natural conditions, agricultural activities help dove populations by keeping land open. Doves are uncommon in vast forested areas, marshes, swamps and other places where open land and bare ground are scarce. In the Southeast, if agricultural land were abandoned and naturally reverted to forest, doves would decline and forest birds would increase.
In the Southeast, doves depend on the earliest stages of plant succession for most of their food needs. Plant succession is the natural progression of plants that occupy land, starting from bare ground and evolving into weeds, bushes, saplings and, eventually, large trees. This type of plant succession is normal in the Southeast and as it advances, doves become scarcer. Unlike quail, doves have short, weak legs and are not adapted for scratching. They prefer the bare land and weedy stages of plant succession, although they do eat some kinds of tree seeds. Tree seeds, like other foods, must fall on bare ground to be available to doves. Agricultural practices are constantly setting back plant succession, thereby providing seeds of weeds and cultivated crops. This food supply helps make doves so abundant.
Dove nests are normally widely scattered in trees and bushes of many kinds, so nest sites are not a limiting factor. In the prairie states, where trees are scarce, doves often nest on the ground. If bushes and trees occur in isolated patches, doves may nest in them at densities of dozens per acre. In the Southeast, doves use tall trees, especially pines, to roost, and they use streams and ponds with bare edges for water sources. Because doves travel easily, it is enough if these necessities exist within a few miles of food. This is in contrast to quail, for example, which require adjacent cover, food and water to survive.
