We have a dove nesting above one of the light fixtures in the barn. Not surprising due to the fact that we have a plethora of doves here.
One of the things I’ve come to love about blogging is that I learn so much – not only because I’m always looking things up to be accurate in my posts, but also because I’m constantly learning new things from all of you.
I found the screeching calls of the doves in Albuquerque very strange until I took the time (only yesterday!) to identify our barn dove. She’s not a Mourning Dove. She’s a Eurasian Collared-Dove and has a very different voice than a Mourning Dove.
Some interesting facts about Eurasian Collared-Doves from whatbird.com:
- The Eurasian Collared-Dove is one of two species that have been argued to be the wild ancestor of the domestic Barbary Dove.
- Their scientific name, Streptopeleia decaocto, literally means a collar (streptos) dove (peleia). In Greek mythology, Decaocto was an overworked, underpaid servant girl. The gods heard her prayers for help and changed her into a dove so she could escape her misery. The dove’s call still echoes the mournful cries of her former life.
- Introduced into the Bahamas in the 1970s, some migrated to Florida in the 1980s. They went unnoticed at first because they look much like the Ringed Turtle-Dove. It wasn’t until the mid-1980s that ornithologists realized the suddenly prolific and quickly spreading “turtle-doves” they were watching were actually Eurasian Collared-Doves. Their impact on native species is unknown; some have suggested that their spread represents exploitation of a niche made available by the extinction of the Passenger Pigeon.
- A group of doves has many collective nouns, including a “bevy”, “cote”, “dole”, “dule”, and “flight” of doves.
July 10, 2010 at 4:58 am
Now you have ME wondering if the Mourning Doves at our bird feeder might be something else. Hmmm…
On a bird watching hunt now.
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July 10, 2010 at 7:05 am
C and Liz,
The thing that sealed it for me was her voice. If you go to this site, you’ll be able to listen to the call of the Eurasian Collared-Dove. The screeching part of her voice is very unique.
http://identify.whatbird.com/obj/887/_/Eurasian_Collared-Dove.aspx
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July 10, 2010 at 5:31 am
Well, I’ll be darned. I learned something this morning. I’m going to check out the doves in our area.
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July 10, 2010 at 5:34 am
Learning so many different things while reading my favorite blogs is one of my favorite things about blogging. They really enrich my life.
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July 10, 2010 at 8:00 am
Sandra,
🙂
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July 10, 2010 at 6:03 am
She’s very sweet – here’s to a long and happy life to her and all her younguns…(don’t turn on the light!)
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July 10, 2010 at 8:00 am
carson,
We’ll second that.
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July 10, 2010 at 7:22 am
Do doves mate for life? I read that somewhere…
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July 10, 2010 at 7:54 am
Winter,
whatbird.com lists Eurasian Collared-Doves as Breeding Type: Monogamous
I think this link provides a fairly accurate answer to your question:
http://www.wild-bird-watching.com/Birds-Mate-Life.html
Most of our North American birds do not mate for life. Rather, most pair bonds are formed for a single season. Those birds that pair for a season are referred to as monogamous pairs. Monogamy is one male bird with one female bird through a single nesting cycle.
The pair may stay together raising a single brood and then change partners for a second brood in the same season. Still they are considered monogamous.
Other pair bonds may be formed and last over several seasons. Doves, Robins, and others are on this list. Oftentimes, these birds are considered as mating for life. Even though their average life spans may range from a year and a half to several years.
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July 10, 2010 at 7:50 am
Mr. Fry goes ballistic on birds that want to nest in the eaves or anywhere connected to the house. I’m afraid she would have been evicted before she ever got that far.
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July 10, 2010 at 8:03 am
Leah,
Mr. Fry would have a field day here, especially with all of our Cecils (swallows). Don does threaten to hose down their nests each year, but they’re still here. 🙂 The nice thing about the dove is that she’s very tidy (unlike the swallows). There’s not one speck of poo on the floor under her nest!
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July 10, 2010 at 8:34 am
Oh, wow! Thanks for the pictures and the great information. She(he?) is so cute!
We have the Eurasian doves here, too – but I’ve never gone farther than learning what they are. Some even stay here through the winter, which is amazing as we don’t have that many trees. We wonder where they hide during snow storms. They will flock to our bird feeders. They look really silly trying to perch on the feeders to get at the seed. They are just a tad too big!
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July 10, 2010 at 8:36 am
Now I’ll have to take a closer look at the doves on our property. We’ve had a pair try building a nest on the top of one of the ceiling fans on our porch. What a mess…little sticks all over the porch floor. After their third egg rolled off the top of the fan and splattered on the ground, they finally gave up and moved on…hopefully to a better location.
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July 10, 2010 at 9:19 am
Our mourning doves say “cooOOOOO, coo, coo” — in a soft and mournful tone.
🙂
We had a robin nest for a couple of years, and they were very tidy, too, unlike the English sparrows, which we do discourage.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen a dove nest before….. (speaking of learning something every day…. 🙂 )
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July 10, 2010 at 9:56 am
Thanks for the information. Now I know why not all our doves look alike. We have the smaller Mourning doves and then these critters. They are all a little obnoxious, with all their racket. I prefer the hahaha ing of the robins and the hummingbird fussing. We also have a pair of mountain jays that just think this is the best place to be….darn it. swoop down on the dogs and kids. Duck has a whole nother meaning here in “burque”.
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July 10, 2010 at 10:01 am
She is a lovely dove!
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July 10, 2010 at 10:58 am
Whatever she is, she’s very pretty in her conservative coloring!
I listened to the call. Sounds like me at about three in the afternoon of a workday.
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July 10, 2010 at 11:34 am
Very interesting post today! There are four pair of doves that have decided to reside here this year. Now I am going to have to take a close look at them to find out which ones they are. Thanks for the info.
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July 11, 2010 at 4:11 am
Isn’t she pretty? It’s always nice to know that you’re not the only one *grin*. We had a beekeeper out here the other day and I was following him around asking all kinds of questions (with my camera, of course). He was very nice about it and I explained that he would ultimately wind up as a blog post :o)
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July 11, 2010 at 9:56 am
So pretty!
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