I've seen this sort of thing several times, no doubt so have others.
Page 241 of Frith's book Pigeons and Doves of Australia illustrates it
and calls it sun-bathing. Odd that HANZAB would not mention it..........
Philip Veerman
24 Castley Circuit
Kambah ACT 2902
02 - 62314041
-----Original Message-----
From:
On Behalf Of Stephen Ambrose
Sent: Sunday, 19 September 2010 1:59 PM
To: 'birding-aus'
Subject: Crested Pigeon Wing Display
Yesterday I saw a small flock of Crested Pigeons (about 6 birds from
memory) in an open grassed area. One pigeon was lying on its side on the
ground, flicking one wing upwards, so that the undersurface of the wing
was exposed for about seconds with each flick. The other Crested Pigeons
did not seem to react, continuing to forage around the displaying bird.
I thought at first that the bird lying on its side was dead or injured
and that the wind was catching the wing and blowing it upward. But as I
approached the flock on foot all the birds, including the "wing flicker"
flew to a nearby tree.
So I then thought I had observed some form of courtship display, but
there is no mention of this behavior in HANZAB. Has anyone else observed
this behavior in Crested Pigeons? I'm also interested to hear other
peoples' views on the purpose of the display.
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