Re: [SBB] A question about the Eurasian Collared-Doves in San Martin

["Alvaro Jaramillo" <[[email protected]]>]

Mike et al. 

  It is confusing. Here in San Mateo County we have not known of any large
scale releases, so Euro Collared Doves we see are thought to be from the
expanding North American population. However, at least one bird in Half Moon
Bay I have seen has been ghostly pale. I have not had a good look at it, but
it may be a leucistic bird or a bird with genes from captive populations. It
would be interesting to know if in places where the dove is common these
pale birds pop up or not. In Puerto Rico there are pale ones as well as
"wild type" although there it is a mess, with Ringed Turtle Dove populations
being apparently present. The pale birds are probably not hybrids with
Ringed Turtle-Doves, but domestic genes/breeding for paleness. On the other
hand there was a moderately pale bird in my backyard which molted into a
seemingly normal looking bird. At the end of the molt a few buff wing
coverts stood out like a sore thumb, this was a bird that for some reason
had become really bleached and faded. It is all too confusing to figure out
I am afraid. 

Al

Alvaro Jaramillo
[[email protected]]
Half Moon Bay, CA

Field Guides - Birding Tours Worldwide
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> -----Original Message-----
> From: [[email protected]] [mailto:south-bay-birds-
> [[email protected]]] On Behalf Of Mike Rogers
> Sent: Thursday, September 21, 2006 2:53 PM
> To: birders
> Subject: Re: [SBB] A question about the Eurasian Collared-Doves in San
> Martin
> 
> David,
> 
> Small populations of Eurasian Collared-Doves have been established in
> California for some time. These have resulted from accidental or
> intentional releases and some have been quite successful. There is now a
> pretty large population near King City, Monterey County, for example. I
> found 2 Eurasian Collared-Doves together with one hybrid-type dove near
> the corner of Maple and Murphy in San Martin (not far north of the
> Morabito residence) on 12 Feb 2000. These birds pretty clearly had
> escaped/been released from the aviary there and were not part of the
> expanding wave of collared-doves that crossed the U.S. Their numbers in
> that area have been steadily growing (whether from additional
> escapes/releases or successful breeding is unknown) and recently counts
> of 20 or so Eurasian Collared-Doves in that vicinity have been pretty
> normal.
> 
> In 2002, large numbers of Eurasian Collared-Doves reached southern
> California (see for example http://fog.ccsf.cc.ca.us/~jmorlan/ecdo.htm)
> and soon after this the species was added to the state list as a "wild"
> bird, the thinking being that this big influx indicated that the
> westward push of this species had reached California (there are many
> maps documenting this westward expansion on the web that you can
> probably locate with a search engine). The Eurasian Collared-Dove
> continues to expand throughout California and increase in numbers near
> the Salton Sea.
> 
> In Santa Clara County, we have had occasional records of Ringed
> Turtle-Doves and intermediate hybrid type doves for some time, but have
> lacked solid records of carefully identified pure Eurasian
> Collared-Doves until recently. Now that the "wave" of collared-doves has
> passed north of us, sightings of pure-looking birds away from the known
> released population in San Martin/Morgan Hill need to be considered as
> possibly "wild" birds. Indeed, sightings of apparently pure Eurasian
> Collared-Doves near the CCFS waterbird pond on 16 May and in San Jose on
> 16 June were far enough from San Martin to be considered as "countable"
> birds. We have had earlier reports of probable Eurasian Collared-Doves
> since 2002, but none documented well enough to eliminate Ringed
> Turtle-Doves or hybrids.
> 
> Steve Rottenborn reported 42 Eurasian Collared-Doves from the Morabito
> residence on 19 Sep. This is almost double the high counts from recent
> months in the same area by the same observer and suggests that either
> another big release occurred (from a larger source than the aviary at
> Maple and Murphy) or that wild birds have augmented the San Martin feral
> population, which is certainly possible. Even if wild birds are part of
> the San Martin population now though, it would be impossible to know
> which birds were which and it is probably best to consider these birds
> as not "countable" until the species is better established throughout
> the county, at which point the whole issue becomes moot.
> 
> In an effort to further track the changing status of collared-doves in
> the county it would be helpful if people report all Streptopelia doves
> they encounter. Several have showed up at backyard feeders, so this
> could happen to anybody.
> 
> The White-winged Dove is almost certainly a wild bird. Although I doubt
> anyone has asked the dove fancier at Maple and Murphy whether he keeps
> this species, none have been seen in his cages. It is unlikely that a
> hatching-year bird has already escaped, become a powerful flyer, become
> wary of Cooper's Hawks, and started ranging widely instead of remaining
> near the aviary. There have been many reports of White-winged Doves this
> season from northern California and this occurrence seems to fit that
> pattern, happening at an expected time of year for dispersing birds of
> that species. If the bird is not refound, the case for it being a "wild"
> bird passing through becomes even stronger.
> 
> So at this point, I think the most justifiable answers to the
> countability questions you pose are:
> White-winged Dove - countable wild dispersing juvenile at an expected
> time of year
> Eurasian Collared-Dove - not countable in the vicinity of San
> Martin/Morgan Hill, but probably countable away from that area
> 
> Mike Rogers
> Sunnyvale
> 
> 
> David Kutilek wrote:
> >
> > With all the recent birding activity at the Morabito pond and dead
> > willow trees… and the additional sighting of the White-winged Dove… I
> > would like to ask the experts on SBB their opinion... Is a sighting of
> > the Eurasian Collared-Doves in San Martin a legal accepted ABA-rules
> > sighting for my California LIST? I read Steve's post that these are
> > local birds, yet there are certainly are feral. Same Q for the
> > White-winged Dove.
> >
> > I am curious, and I suppose many whom read these listings might ask
> > this same Q as well.
> >
> > Thanks,
> > Dave Kutilek
> > Morgan Hill
> >
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