Mourning doves are gentle visitors that bring peaceful sounds and graceful movements to Alabama and Mississippi gardens. Creating a dove-friendly landscape isn’t complicated—it simply requires the right plants that provide food, shelter, and nesting opportunities.
By incorporating these plants into your garden, you’ll create an inviting habitat that mourning doves will return to season after season.
1. Sunflowers: Nature’s Bird Feeders
The tall stalks and massive seed heads make sunflowers irresistible to mourning doves throughout Alabama and Mississippi.
These birds prefer feeding on the ground, so as seeds naturally fall, they create a perfect dining area. Many gardeners in the Gulf states plant a succession of sunflowers from spring through late summer.
This strategy ensures a continuous food supply that keeps doves coming back. For me, watching doves gather beneath my sunflowers has become a morning ritual that brings unexpected joy to hot summer days.
2. Native Switchgrass: A Home Among Stems
Waving gently in Mississippi breezes, switchgrass provides both seeds and nesting materials that doves actively seek. The dense growth pattern creates hiding spots from predators while offering easy access to the ground for feeding.
This drought-resistant perennial thrives in both states without much maintenance. Plant it in clumps rather than rows to create natural-looking stands that mimic the wild habitats doves prefer.
My grandmother’s Alabama property always featured patches of switchgrass where doves would gather in impressive numbers during late summer.
3. Millet: The Dove Magnet
Few plants attract mourning doves as reliably as millet. The small, round seeds are perfectly sized for dove beaks and scatter easily on the ground where these birds prefer to feed.
Growing successfully in both Alabama’s clay soils and Mississippi’s varied terrain, millet matures quickly and produces abundant seed heads.
Consider planting several patches throughout your garden to create multiple feeding stations. I’ve noticed doves in my Mississippi garden will return to millet patches daily, sometimes bringing their young once they’re old enough to fly.
4. Black-Eyed Susans: Golden Attraction
The cheerful flowers eventually produce seed heads that become natural bird feeders in late summer and fall.
Doves particularly appreciate how these plants self-seed and create dense patches perfect for both feeding and protection. Hardy throughout Alabama and Mississippi, black-eyed Susans thrive in the hot, humid conditions of both states.
They require minimal care while providing maximum benefit to your garden’s dove population. Last year, a family of mourning doves nested near my black-eyed Susan patch, returning daily to feed among the spent blooms well into October.
5. Pine Trees: Nesting Havens
Mourning doves frequently choose pine trees for nesting sites across both Alabama and Mississippi landscapes. The horizontal branches provide stable platforms for their somewhat flimsy nests, while the evergreen needles offer year-round protection.
Southern yellow pines like loblolly and longleaf are particularly attractive to doves. Even a single pine can become a favorite nesting spot for generations of birds.
In my experience with Alabama gardens, doves will return to the same pine tree year after year if they’ve successfully raised young there previously.
6. Coneflowers: Purple Perennial Performers
Beyond their beauty, coneflowers produce seed heads that persist through winter, providing food when other sources become scarce. Mourning doves will perch directly on the sturdy stems to access seeds or gather them from the ground below.
Well-adapted to both Alabama and Mississippi growing conditions, these native perennials thrive with minimal care. Plant them in groups of at least five for maximum impact and seed production.
The sight of doves feeding among purple coneflowers creates a beautiful contrast that enhances any Southern garden’s appeal.
7. Cracked Corn Plantings: Easy Starter Solution
While not technically a plant, broadcasting cracked corn in areas where you plan to establish dove-friendly gardens creates an immediate attraction.
Mourning doves quickly discover this food source and begin visiting regularly. Many Alabama gardeners use this strategy to draw doves initially, then maintain their presence with permanent plantings.
Scatter corn near sunflowers or millet for best results. I’ve successfully used this method in my Mississippi backyard, gradually transitioning from corn to natural seed sources as my garden matured.
8. Dogwood Trees: Spring Shelter, Fall Feeding
The layered branching structure of dogwoods provides excellent protection for mourning doves, especially during nesting season. Later, the small red berries offer supplemental food that doves occasionally enjoy.
Native dogwoods thrive in the dappled shade common in Alabama and Mississippi gardens. Their moderate height makes them perfect for smaller spaces while still attracting plenty of bird activity.
A pair of dogwoods flanking my garden path in central Alabama became favorite perching spots for doves moving between feeding and nesting areas.
9. Zinnias: Colorful Seed Producers
Offering both beauty for humans and seeds for doves, zinnias earn their place in any bird-friendly garden. The large, easy-to-grow flowers produce abundant seeds that scatter perfectly for ground-feeding doves.
Heat-loving and drought-tolerant, these annuals perform beautifully in both Alabama and Mississippi gardens.
Leave the spent flowers in place rather than deadheading to maximize seed production for your dove visitors. My Mississippi neighbor’s zinnia patch became so popular with mourning doves that she now plants twice as many each year.
10. Wheat: Grassy Ground Cover
Growing patches of wheat creates an authentic dove habitat that mimics agricultural fields where these birds often feed. The grain heads bend naturally toward the ground, making seeds accessible to doves’ ground-feeding style.
Even small wheat plantings in Alabama and Mississippi gardens can attract multiple doves. Consider planting in fall for spring growth or as a cool-season crop in rotation with summer favorites.
During my visits to family in northern Mississippi, I’ve noticed how even modest wheat plantings consistently draw mourning doves throughout the growing season.
11. Marigolds: Bright Border Attractions
Beyond pest control benefits, marigolds produce seeds that mourning doves readily consume once flowers fade. Their bright colors also create visual markers that help doves locate your garden from above during flights.
These hardy annuals withstand Alabama and Mississippi heat admirably. Plant them along garden edges where doves can easily access fallen seeds without feeling too exposed.
Last summer, I noticed mourning doves would visit my Mississippi marigold borders specifically in late afternoon, seemingly timing their feeding to the cooler part of the day.
12. Beautyberry: Purple Berries for Variety
Native to both Alabama and Mississippi, beautyberry shrubs offer both protective cover and occasional food for mourning doves. The distinctive purple berries provide nutritional variety when preferred seeds are scarce.
The arching branches create ideal perching spots where doves can rest between feeding sessions. Plant these shrubs near open areas where doves typically feed for maximum effectiveness.
I’ve watched doves use my beautyberry bushes as staging areas—perching briefly before dropping down to feed on nearby sunflower or millet seeds.
13. Cosmos: Self-Seeding Simplicity
Feathery foliage and abundant blooms make cosmos a garden favorite that also appeals to mourning doves. As flowers fade, they form seed heads that doves can access either directly or after they fall to the ground.
Particularly well-suited to Alabama’s growing conditions, cosmos thrive in average soil and tolerate drought once established. In Mississippi gardens, they often self-seed readily, creating new plants each year.
My aunt’s Biloxi garden features cosmos that have returned for five consecutive years, reliably attracting mourning doves each season.
14. Juniper Shrubs: Year-Round Sanctuary
Dense, evergreen growth makes junipers ideal shelter plants for mourning doves seeking protection from predators and harsh weather. The small blue berries occasionally supplement their primarily seed-based diet.
Low-growing juniper varieties create ground-level cover where doves feel secure. Taller cultivars provide nesting opportunities similar to pine trees but in a more compact form suitable for smaller Alabama and Mississippi gardens.
The junipers flanking my garden path in northern Alabama have become regular resting spots for doves moving between feeding areas.
15. Native Mulberry: Fruit and Shade Combination
While mourning doves primarily eat seeds, they occasionally enjoy soft fruits like mulberries. The spreading branches also provide excellent perching spots and dappled shade for hot Southern days.
Red mulberry trees native to Alabama and Mississippi create bird-friendly environments without much maintenance. Their fast growth makes them quick additions to newer gardens seeking to attract doves.
The mulberry in my backyard serves as a central hub for bird activity, with mourning doves often gathering in its branches before moving to nearby feeding areas.
16. Safflower: The Selective Seed Source
Growing safflower creates a feeding station specifically attractive to mourning doves while deterring some nuisance birds. The white seeds have a slightly bitter taste that squirrels and some aggressive birds avoid, but doves readily accept.
This annual crop grows well in both Alabama and Mississippi’s warm growing season. The thistle-like plants produce abundant seeds that scatter perfectly for ground-feeding doves.
After adding safflower to my Birmingham garden rotation, I noticed a marked increase in mourning dove visits compared to previous years.