Thanks to Curtis and Anthea for off-list replies.
As we are in Australia, and Hill Pigeons generally live very far away, I
expect that there is a simpler solution to this than the vagrant theory.
(Unless of course the Schofields Progress Association took a tip from the
Burren Junction Progress Association and birdnapped an Asian bird to draw in
the tourist dollar.)
What first got my attention yesterday was the shape of the bird's head -- it
had a strange notch at the back, like nothing I had ever seen before.
However, inspection last night of my photos makes be believe that a cat or a
raptor perhaps has taken a large talon-full of feathers from the back of
this bird's neck. But at the time I thought this to be a normal bit of an
unusual bird.
Second, the colouration was different from what I expect in feral pigeons
and rock pigeons: The two bars on the back were brown, and there was a large
brown crescent at the top of the breast, with the points of the crescent
extending up the sides of the neck. I did not associate this with pigeons.
That said, I pay less attention to pigeons than I do to Indian Miners and
starlings, but then we don't get a lot of feral pigeons around here.
1. So, do feral pigeons also show this brown stripe and brown crescent
colouration patter, given they highly variable nature of their colouration
patterns?
My photos show nothing of the underwings, and little of the tail. When I saw
it in the morning (walking a wakeful 3-week old), I had no binocs or camera
on me. When I went back later, it had moved further away and remained on the
ground, so I also got no decent view of the tail. I hope to go back today
and see if it is still there -- with the notch in the back of the head from
missing feathers, it is hard to miss. I'll try for more photos (10x zoom) or
even video (30x zoom, but much lower resolution). If I get there.
I trawled the web looking for matching photos, and the only match that came
up was the first of the hill pigeon photos on the link I gave. All the rest
look to me like ordinary feral pigeons. So if mine looks to everyone like an
ordinary feral pigeon, then that is the most likely explanation, and I have
simply learned something. Anthea commented that mine looked like 'the Blue
Checker plumage of the feral pigeon.' My only comment to that would be that
the few pictures I found of blue checkers on the web did not show the brown
colouration. Is that just another normal variation?
2. Do pigeon people actually keep any species such as the hill pigeon, or
are they just into Columba Livia? But if that were the case, then I guess we
would have feral populations of hill pigeons already all over the world. . .
Hopefully I can see it fly off today or tomorrow, or see it up close, and
get a decent view of the tail feathers. If so, I'll let you all know. I
couldn't imagine the traffic in Schofields if this were a real vagrant and
not an escapee, being in the Sydney basin!
Thanks to all, and cheers,
Gordon in Schofields
-----Original Message-----
From: Kurtis Lindsay
Sent: Friday, 12 October 2007 6:09 PM
To: Gordon and Pam
Subject: Hill pigeon (Columba rupestris) in NW Sydney:
Escapeeor vagrant?
Gordon,
Are you sure it wasn't just a Feral Pigeon (domesticated form of Rock
Pigeon, Columba livia)?
Hill Pigeon and Rock Pigeon look virtually identical however Hill Pigeons
have white tail panels and white-underwings, while Rock Pigeons have grey
tail panels.
Rock Pigeon
www.hlasek.com/foto/columba_livia_ad9326.jpg
Hill Pigeon
http://www.darwin.museum.ru/expos/floor1/img/m_2z2.jpg
The species which pigeon fanciers keep is Columba livia, when kept in
captivity they are usually called Homing Pigeon or simply Pigeon.
Many pigeons have escaped from personal collections over the years forming
feral populations usually in towns or farmland,
Kurtis Lindsay
|
