G'day Peter,
the local DSE folk are the people to contact if this bird becomes
established, especially if any other individuals turn up. Barbary Dove is
potentially much more suited to the dry regions of Australia than Spotted
Dove, so we shouldn't be complacent about this. The birds in Adelaide may be
localized at the moment but if they are wild breeding they are on the way to
becoming street smart in the Australian environment through natural
selection favouring non-domestic behavior so who is to say that that
population could not suddenly become a problem after a couple of
generations. I for one would hate to see Barbary Dove amongst the Diamond
Doves and Spinifex Pigeons of Central Australia.
Cheers Jeff.
-----Original Message-----
From:
On Behalf Of Peter Ewin
Sent: Tuesday, 29 September 2009 6:32 PM
To: ? birding-aus
Cc: Mark Clayton
Subject: Barbary Dove in Mildura
Since moving to Mildura just over 3 years ago I have been keeping an eye on
the Spotted Turtle-doves around town. They are pretty common in the
Riverland (in SA) to the west and had been reported east of town along the
Murray River (probably around Swan Hill) in the 2nd BA Atlas so I was
expecting them to eventually turn up. I continue to see the occasional
single bird in town (at one spot reasonably regularly) with one turning up
in my own yard about a year ago for a few days.
This afternoon I walked out the back door and heard a Dove calling and could
see it in the tree next door. The call didn't sound quite right and so I had
a closer look (and then raced in side to get binoculars) and confirmed it
was a Barbary Dove (the internet is a wonderful resource). This is almost
certainly the bird I heard calling but couldn't see on the weekend (it
didn't quite sound right) and possibly the bird I saw perched on powerlines
about 300m away from home as I was driving one day.
I am assuming the bird is an aviary escapee, but there is a remote
possibility that it has been blown up here in the recent strong south
westerleys (there is a population in the Adelaide suburbs). I note that
Trevor Hampel has seen one bird in his backyard at Murray Bridge - has
anyone seen them further up the Murray at all?
At this stage I probably won't tick it (though it is now on the C&B list)
but if it continues to be seen around home I might be tempted. I am going to
be in Adelaide next month so I was going to scout through the archives (and
put in a general RFI for a few other things) to check out the known
locations so I will probably be happier counting this plastic tick (this at
least seems to be a self-sustaining population).
Before anyone says anything, I am happy for you to come trap/shoot it before
it creates another pest species - but I will leave it up to you to get the
permits, licences etc. to dispatch it in an urban area.
Cheers,
Peter
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