[texbirds] Odd-colored Inca Dove
- From: Elizabeth Moon <emoon1@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: TEXBIRDS <texbirds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 23 Jan 2013 13:38:45 -0600
For the past week or so, I've seen a small dove hanging out with the
Inca dove flock, with the same scaled pattern on its body feathers...but
with a longer dark tail with a white tip, and one wing (just one wing,
the left) with bright chestnut primary feathers and darker secondaries.
The coloring is clearly asymmetrical.
The bird's shape is like an Inca dove, and it seems completely at home
with the Inca dove flock we've had for years. Eats with them, goes to
water with them, grooms with them, loafs out under the leafless bushes
on the east fence with them, startles with them when they startle. I
can't detect any difference in behavior or choice of seed size, or
anything in the interactions that is un-Inca-like. It's just that the
Inca's tails are shorter (some have moulted their longest tail-feathers
and appear stub-tailed) and of course do not have bold white tips on the
longest feathers--when folded, the tail doesn't show white. This bird
looks very long-tailed in comparison. The one chestnut wing is also
distinctive.
It's a distinctive little bird, but the whole flock is shy and so far I
haven't gotten a photograph of it yet. Wondering if anyone else has
seen a "mismatched" dove.
Elizabeth Moon
Williamson County
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- » [texbirds] Odd-colored Inca Dove - Elizabeth Moon
