Eileen and all-
On June 13th this year, I was walking home and I happened on what I thought
might be a chicken munching away in a newly sprouting field, alfalfa I think.
At first I could only see upper portions of what appeared to be an all white
bird, which I first assumed was a chicken based on size, color, and the way it
bobbed its head when walking. It was a dark, foggy, afternoon under a steady
drizzle, so I couldn't stay long to watch, and it was a considerable distance
from me across the street.
Then I saw a second one a short distance from the first, poking it's head out
of the greenery. The first one wasn't all white and the second one, even less
so.
Luckily I had a camera with a 60x zoom along, and it didn't take long before it
was clear that I had found some kind of giant pigeon, perhaps escaped from
captivity (or descended from domesticated pigeons). Since I was going to be
trying to identify them later, I took as many photos as I could without getting
myself soaked, and a couple of brief videos. Good thing I did, because I
haven't seen a trace of the pair since then.
Out of desperation for a decent shot under rotten conditions, I even ventured
into digital zoom for the series.
As I watched, they moved to higher ground and many of my shots were
full-bodied, but very sparing of glimpses of their legs, as I wanted to try and
establish whether they were banded. I didn't see any trace of banding, but
then, I got extremely few shots that revealed legs at all. I included the best
ones that show a little leg in the display:
http://bit.ly/1RNDdVA
http://bit.ly/1eeQbJp
http://bit.ly/1Kjgeed
http://bit.ly/1fjTEXT
http://bit.ly/1COd9Dc
http://bit.ly/1MiS8T8
http://bit.ly/1DsMKFy
http://bit.ly/1OkPkmV
If a high-res is needed to use for identification, or if someone wants to see
either of the videos, please let me know.
I have never seen any pigeons this large before, or with this sort of
coloration, so after spending some time looking on the internet for something
comparable, I resigned to label them as partially leucistic rock pigeons with a
question mark and left it at that. I pretty much forgot about it until you
posted your photo (the rest of which are simply magnificent, I must add)!
I intended to ask the list, but wasn't sure if anyone would find it of interest.
I envy what other yard species you have at this time, you must live in a rural
area? How did your pigeon example appear to you size-wise as compared other
birds you see in your yard, such as a mourning dove? What I saw compared to the
size of a domestic chicken as mentioned, just less bulky.
In terms of pictures I found online, mine came close to comparing to a domestic
breed of Giant Runts, although what I saw doesn't appear to have the right head
and body shape. But even those Giant Runts are descended from rock pigeons
through selective breeding, I believe, so I had some small faith in my
preliminary I.D..
While searching, though, I found many photos of pigeons with similar odd
colorations to ours, but most were domesticated.
But just in case anyone knows something about pigeons, I thought I would add my
pair to your photo being considered on this topic. They at least compare to
yours in coloration, but maybe you can tell me if the size of yours was more
typical of a rock pigeon than mine?
In the 60's (back when free-roaming kids were the norm in small towns), when I
was maybe 7-9 years old, one of my first ever bird fascinations were the dozens
of rock pigeons at the county courthouse where I lived at the time, and I would
often go there to look for iridescent feathers and just to watch them and
listen to them. I spent a few years closely admiring them, so I am familiar
with what the classic species traits were, but these two I saw in June were
like none I had EVER seen.
I would love to know what anyone else's experiences are with anything similar
to this kind of pigeon in Wisconsin, I haven't found a great deal of
references to them out there, possibly because they are not a
naturally-occurring species at this size (as far as I know), but I don't really
know much about them other than visual 'norms'.
Nest regards-
Gloria Shiraef
Manitowoc City & County
On Jul 21, 2015, at 12:06 AM, FreeLists Mailing List Manager wrote:
From: "Eileen Worman" <eileenworman@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [wisb] Odd Rock Pigeon, etc. Town of Lebanon, Dodge County
Date: Mon, 20 Jul 2015 16:38:11 -0500
We had the oddest looking Rock Pigeon (at least that's what I assume it is)
in our yard very briefly yesterday. I've never seen one with such distinct
black and white patterns. I got a not-so-great shot of it that I've posted to
my Flickr page, which you can see here, if you'd
like.:https://www.flickr.com/photos/beanheadwisconsin/19246507573/in/photostream/
We've been enjoying the company of a Sora the last week or so and had a
beautiful male Scarlet Tanager in the yard a couple days ago. We've got a
Sedge Wren or two downhill, as well.
Our Baltimore and Orchard Orioles have fledged as well as Eastern Meadowlarks
and Bobolinks (the Bobolinks have since left the area), and many other
species, too.
We're usually seeing around 40 or so species each day in our yard at this
point. Like last summer, there are mornings I'm wearing a coat out there to
do my birdwatching!
Eileen Worman
Town of Lebanon, Dodge County
