This state's classification carries no date range for the species.
Massachusetts does not classify mourning dove as a huntable migratory game bird.MassWildlife's current 2026-27 migratory-game-bird regulations page lists the full species/date table (ducks, geese, brant, coot, woodcock, sora rail, Virginia rail, snipe) with no dove line item, and the codified definition of 'Migratory Game Birds' in 321 CMR 3.00 -- limited to families Anatidae, Rallidae, and Scolopacidae -- structurally excludes Columbidae (doves). This traces to an 1903 state-law classification of mourning dove as a protected songbird rather than a game bird, a status that has never been legislatively reversed.
This is not a density claim. Massachusetts does not classify mourning dove as a legal game bird at all. The codified definition of 'Migratory Game Birds' in 321 CMR 3.00 is structurally limited to Anatidae, Rallidae, and Scolopacidae, excluding Columbidae, which is attributed, though not by MassWildlife itself, to an 1903 protected-songbird classification that has never been reversed. Because there is no hunting season, MassWildlife runs no harvest survey, zone map, or regional-abundance program for the species. Neither MassWildlife nor Mass Audubon publishes a sub-state regional distinction either; the species is broadly present statewide with no agency-stated concentration area.
No formal population survey program exists for this species in this state.
Join the waitlist and tell us what you’re working on — the planner reads it first once your access opens.
Free, invite-gated, unsubscribe anytime. See what it returns