Juvenile Mourning Dove

This juvenile Mourning Dove showed up this morning in our back yard, appearing to be seeking the warmth of the morning sun after last night’s rain which was probably his first experience of rain in his new short life.  Shortly after I took this photo, three other of his juvenile siblings showed up and all four began an inexperienced search for bugs under the rose bushes. To add to the circus, two juvenile European Starlings appeared, and seemed confused as to whether they were doves or something else. Eventually an adult Starling showed up with a worm to feed them. We originally saw a juvenile Mourning Dove for the first time last evening as we were sitting on our patio. He was looking a little scruffy and unsure of himself as he tried to follow an adult. Below is a photo of the adult from last evening for comparison of juvenile vs adult plumage.