Expert: Julia Booth - 4/2/2009

Question
I have just started to build a shed and today saw a morning dove nesting about 10 feet away. I have not began cutting wood or nailing yet. Will I disturb her so much she'll stop sitting on the eggs? She is about 6 ft off the ground and I try to stay as far away from her when I walk past her. Thank You and God Bless!

Answer
If you're not planning on disturbing her directly, or the actual structure she's nesting on, then I don't see a problem. Now that she's laid the eggs, she's unlikely to leave them. Doves are fairly sensitive to their surroundings. But they don't tend to be deterred, unless they're disturbed during the initial nest building process. Once they've laid the eggs, very little would force them away. I've seen people water their garden, unknowingly hosing the nesting mom, and her just sitting there, getting wet.

You've got about two weeks of nesting, then two weeks for the babies to fledge. So it shouldn't be a huge chunk of time.

Hope this helps,

Julia