Mourning dove nest on a Palmchat colony in urban Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic

Abstract

We describe an observation of Zenaida macroura (Mourning Dove) nesting atop an active Dulus dominicus (Palmchat) nest in an urban park located in the Colonial Zone of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. To our knowledge, this is the first published observation of mutual nest placement and simultaneous nesting by these 2 species. We provide natural history information about both species, the possibility of a symbiotic relationship between them, and describe the implications for urban bird conservation.