Following courtship in April, males select the nest site and mated pairs begin nest construction. Two or three twigs placed on horizontal tree branches constitute a nest. Doves sometimes use old robin or bluebird nests as their own, and in areas dominated by grasslands, doves will nest on the ground. The male dove is very attentive and actively praticipates during nesting. He not only chases away fival males, but he helps the female perform such domestic duties as incubating the eggs and feeding the squabs.
Males normally incubate during the day and females at night.
The fifth primary feather in this dove wing has been shed and is being replaced by a half-grown adult feather. The primary covert feather at its base is darktipped. The covert feathers at the bases of the outer five primary feathers are still lighttipped, which means that those juvenile feathers have not been replaced by adult plumage. All of the primary coverts of this wing are dark-tipped, and the juvenile plumage has been entirely replaced with adult feathers. This could be an adult hatched the year before, or a bird of the year hatched in early spring.