Are these Doves Crazy or are We?

.


Starting about two weeks ago, we noticed our pair of doves acting more than usually affectionate. They were preening each other and cooing at each other. Then about a week ago, we thought we saw them, more than once, mating. Of course there is room for error here, but mating is rather hard to misinterpret, isn’t it, except in cats? Now the doves are showing up with straws and stems of weeds in their beaks. These they have to drop in order to eat, and that surely seems to upset them! They drop their straw, eat a couple of bites, pick up the straw again, drop it again, eat a couple more bites…and they’re still doing all this lovey-dovey stuff.

Are these birds mixed up? Do they think it’s Spring? My paranoid imagination even wonders whether their now-abundant food supply is misleading them, but surely not! Surely birds judge seasons by the temperature, the length of the days, and the angle of the Sun, yes?

So what is going on here? Do doves, perhaps, build their nests early? Here's some info I found on the Collared Dove:

Breeding Data

Breeding Starts: March

# of Clutches: 2-5

# of Eggs: 2

Incubation (days): 14-16

Fledge (days): 18-21