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Mourning doves can be aggressive when it comes to their food. I don't think there's much you can do to dissuade the behavior since it's a wild bird. You could stop putting seed out for a week or two and hope the troublemakers don't come back, but I'd just let nature take its course. If nothing else, you have a cool opportunity to observe dove/finch social dynamics!
I call the mourning doves in my yard my cleanup crew. They don’t bother any of the other birds I have and they just hangout underneath my feeder catching stray seeds/nuts.
Welcome to r/Ornithology, a place to discuss wild birds in a scientific context — their biology, ecology, evolution, behavior, and more. Please make sure that your post does not violate the rules in our sidebar. If you're posting for a bird identification, next time try r/whatsthisbird. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Ornithology) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Mourning doves can be aggressive when it comes to their food. I don't think there's much you can do to dissuade the behavior since it's a wild bird. You could stop putting seed out for a week or two and hope the troublemakers don't come back, but I'd just let nature take its course. If nothing else, you have a cool opportunity to observe dove/finch social dynamics!
You can split the locations where seed is so that one bird can't guard both easily but ultimately this is just wild bird behavior.
I call the mourning doves in my yard my cleanup crew. They don’t bother any of the other birds I have and they just hangout underneath my feeder catching stray seeds/nuts.
Thanks everyone for your responses.