INTRODUCTION 
Prior to 1960, the annual status of the mourning dove population was 
reported in the Mourning Dove Newsletter. The Newsletter contimes as a 
report on activities in mourning dove research and management on a 
national scale, but the annual report on status of the population, used 
ehiefly for regulatory purposes, is published separately. 

An annual survey of the breeding population of mourning doves by a 
system of call-count routes provides an index to the status of the popu- 
lation in the United States. Through the cooperation of State, Bureau, 
and independent observers, call-count routes were widely established by 
1953. The hundreds of cooperators who participate in the call-count 
survey have contributed the data that form the basis for this report. 
The call-count survey period is May 20 - June 10, a period during 
which dove calling activity is relatively stable, as indicated by 
intensive studies in eastern United States. Because hunting regulations 
must be published by a specified time prior to the hunting season, the 
Dove Regulations Committee meets late in June and population-status 
statistics must be summarized for consideration by the Committee. This 
status report serves that purpose. It also is distributed to all 
eooperators in the call-count survey and is available to interested 
organizations and individuals. 
For several years prior to 1960, the Federal framework of mourning 
dove hunting regulations was established on the basis of eastern and 
western groups of States. Recent analysis of banding data indicates 
that there are three units of the mourning dove population in the United 
States that are largely independent of each other (Kiel, 1959). ‘The 
eriteria for independence are that a unit produces the doves that it 
harvests and does not produce doves that are harvested by other units. 
The Eastern, Central, and Western Management Units. outlined in figure 1 
best meet these criteria for management units on the basis of present 
information. Although additional banding data are needed to establish 
firmly the management-unit boundaries, the Federal framework of -hunting 
regulations was established on the basis of three management units in 
1960. 
