Quick Answer
Yes, a mix of sunflower and bare ground can attract doves, particularly mourning doves and white-winged doves, which tend to favor open areas with forbs and bare ground for foraging and roosting.
Dove Food Preferences
Doves are primarily seed-eaters, and sunflower is one of their preferred food sources. To effectively attract doves, it’s essential to provide a mix of sunflower seeds, either in the form of confection sunflower or black oil sunflower, at a rate of 10-20 pounds per acre. This can be achieved through direct seeding or as part of a cover crop mixture.
Field Management Techniques
Bare ground is also crucial for doves, as it allows them to forage for seeds and insects. To create bare ground, consider using a technique called “strip cropping,” where you plant a narrow strip of a warm-season crop, such as sunflower, and then leave the rest of the field as bare ground. This approach can be as simple as mowing an existing field to a height of 2-3 inches to create a seedbed for future plantings. For optimal results, maintain a mixture of 20-40% bare ground and 60-80% sunflower fields.
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