Well, they are supposed to be. My big, fat fellows get on the bird feeder every so often. I try to keep seed on the ground so they don't have to do that. :)
These birds aren't just feeding off the ground, they are nestled up in that bamboo patch. It's a smallish garden of bamboo and one huge pine tree, with ivy ground cover. There is a feeder at the beginning of that walkway and area.
I hope they've come to live in there. Do you know if Mourning Doves NEST on the ground?
Mourning Doves will also nest in hanging baskets and spider plants.
Ahhhhh - missed the nesting part. I thought they were just considered ground dwellers in general so that would include everything. Ours have to perch on the phone wires though to stay away from the cats, and they usually seem to build their nests in the palm or lemon trees. But I think they have ground nests at the neighbors' who don't have cats.