birding-aus

Re: Spotted Turtle-Doves in Canberra

Subject: Re: Spotted Turtle-Doves in Canberra
From: Rafael Furniss <>
Date: Tue, 26 Sep 1995 16:23:55 +1000 (EST)
Harvey,

A few years ago while visiting my parents in Sydney, my mother showed me 
a Spotted Turtle-Dove's nest, with the mother on the nest. My first 
instinct was to destroy the eggs, but in the interest of keeping on good 
terms with my parents, I desisted. In that part of Sydney (Glenorie, dry 
bush) I hadn't seen any Turtle-doves before, and the native dove species 
they would be competing with (Wonga Pigeon, Common Bronzewing) seemed to 
be doing okay. I know that whatever the Turtle-doves subsisted on, it 
wasn't from birdfeeders or chicken coops, as both were rare within a 5 km 
radius. They may have been taking food that would have been the native 
species' - I wouldn't know. For the very reason that it is difficult to 
know what effect an introduced species is having on an ecosystem, and the 
fact that introduced species tend to have deleterious effects whereever 
introduced, I would destroy the eggs if in the same situation again 
(surreptitiously, though).

If it eases your conscience any, eggs are not living creatures.

Rafael
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