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We will
restore, protect, promote and ensure a clean,
healthy, flowing San Bernard River for the sanity and
enjoyment of present and future generations.
Darrell Poell
FOR SanBernard
Webmaster/Historian
Eurasian Collared Dove
Last year I noticed some birds
sitting in the driveway. At first I thought they
were pigeons. Then I noticed they were all
colored the same and pigeons are usually
multi-colored. They were about the size of a
pigeon. I looked in our bird books but could
not find them. I found them on the internet and
they were Eurasian Collared Dove.
"Eurasian Collared Dove
or simply the
Collared Dove is one of the great
colonizers of the bird world. Its original range
was warmer temperate regions from southeastern
Europe to Japan. However, in the twentieth
century it expanded across the rest of Europe,
reaching as far west as Great Britain by 1953,
and Ireland soon after. It also now breeds north
of the Arctic Circle in Scandinavia. It is not
migratory.
It was introduced into the Bahamas in the 1970s
and spread to Florida by 1982. Its stronghold in
North America is still the Gulf Coast, but it is
now found as far south as Veracruz, as far west
as California, and as far north as British
Columbia and the Great Lakes.
Its impact on native species is as yet unknown;
it appears to occupy an ecological niche between
that of the Mourning Dove and Rock Pigeon; some
have suggested that its spread represents
exploitation of a niche made available by the
extinction of the Passenger Pigeon.
It breeds wherever there
are trees for nesting, laying two white eggs in
a stick nest. Incubation last 14-18 days, and
young fledge after 15-19 days. It is not wary
and is often found around human habitation.
This is a small dove, buff
grey with a darker back and a blue-grey wing
patch. The tail feathers are tipped white. It
has a black half-collor on it nape from which it
gets it name. The short legs are red and the
bill is black. The eye is reddish brown. From a
distance the eyes appear to be black, as the
pupil is relatively large and only a narrow rim
of reddish-brown eye colour can be seen around
the black pupil.
This is a gregarious
species, and sizeable winter flocks will form
where there are food supplies such as grain. The
song is a coocoo, coo repeated many times. It is
phonetically similar to the Greek decaocto
('eighteen'), to which the bird owes it name.
Occasionally it also makes a harsh loud
mechanical-sounding call lasting about 2
seconds, particularly when landing in the
summer." *
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From
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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One of F.O.R.'s
primary functions is to educate the public
regarding the issues concerning the San Bernard
River and it's Communities. Contact Pat Webb
pat@sanbernardriver.com to schedule a
guest speaker for your group or special event.
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