Size:

Length: 12 in.

Weight: 4.2 oz

Wingspan: 18 in.

ID:

Male: Slender grayish, brown bird with dark spots on the wings and one below the ear; chest is pink; head is grayish blue; long tail feather has black edging and side feathers tipped in white; legs are dull red and the bill is dark; eye has dark iris and bluish ring of bare skin.
Female: Color is plainer; tail is shorter. 

 Juvenile: more slender and grayish-brown all over; feathers are scaly looking with more spots on wings; seems to lack blue eye ring around dark iris.

Habitat:

Open woodlands, forest edges, agricultural and residential areas and park-like settings

Diet:

A ground feeder who loves millet, cracked corn, and in general seeds and grains; needs course sand or small gravel to aid in digestion; drinks water by sucking and does not have to lift head to swallow

Family Behavior:

Mating Habits: Monogamous; may pair for life; loosely colonial (nesting close together with birds of the same species); 2-3 broods per year; starts nesting very early-late winter even with lingering snow; believed to have longest breeding season of all North American birds

Local Breeding Period: April
Nests: Made of loosely laid twigs in a tree or bush or on platform (hanging pots or even on the ground); female builds with sticks brought by the male; may do communal nesting (more than one female lays eggs in the same nest)
Eggs: 2 plain white eggs; incubation 13-14 days by male during the day and female at night
Nestlings: Born altricial (helpless, naked, eyes closed) and stay in nest 12-14 days;
both parents feed extremely nutritious pigeon milk (produced in the crop and regurgitated with seeds)

Social Activities:

Males aggressively defend territories during mating season; live in small groups near human habitation-farmland, towns and cities; flight pattern is strong, swift and direct; uses a zigzag pattern to elude predators;  wings produce a whistling sound from wind rushing through the feathers; wings clap above and below the body during bursts of flight.

Range:

Breeding: Throughout most of the continental United States and parts of Mexico and Southern Canada
Winter: May be in Central America but most stay year round in breeding territory 

Vocalization:

Male's mournful cry of oo ahh' coo coo coo during mating season has given the bird its name.