Bob Forsyth wrote:
>
> G'day all,
> The local National Parks office have some digital photos of a
> pigeon/dove that I cannot identify.
>
> It was photographed with a group of Crested Pigeons, feeding on seed
> cast on a suburban footpath.
>
> The bird was -
> - generally pale grey in colour (including the belly)
> and the primaries were a darker grade of grey
> - much smaller than the Crested Pigeons.
>
> It had -
> - no crest
> - a narrow black bar (edged with a bit of white) at the back of its
> neck
> - pink feet (like that of the Crested P)
> - a black tipped grey downcurved bill
> - black eyes with no surrounding markings.
>
>
> Could somebody (who possibly has "Pigeons & Doves", Gibbs et al, Pica
> Press,2001) be able to give me a clue.
> I would be pleased to email the photos to anyone who can assist.
>
> Thanks, Bob Forsyth, Mount Isa, NW Qld.
>
>
>
I didn't need to see the picture. The description was enough.
Undoubtedly either the Collared Dove (Streptopelia decaocto) of Europe,
North Africa and the Middle East, and now through northern Europe to
Britain, or its domesticated paler form the Barbary Dove.
A common captive and an undesirable bird as an escape - capable of great
population growth and of establishing itself in Australia, as if we
hadn't enough exotics already.
Anthea Fleming in Ivanhoe, Vic
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