Collared Doves

TimJ

TimJ

Well-known member
A year or two ago we had a discussion about collared doves and who was seeing them. Just wondering if anyone new is hearing them court this spring? A little unscientific survey of where they have reached.

On Saturday between rains I walked outside and heard a repetitive who who-who and since I have listened collored dove sounds on the web I knew what it was right away. Couldn't find it then but Sunday morning they made sure I didn't miss them. I saw two for sure and I think there were two pairs cooing back and forth. Saw my first last fall while scouting for ducks without a gun while dove season was still going...DOH! My brother in law has been seeing them all winter so I guess they are getting well established in SE SD.

For those of you who have had them for a few years do they call like this all spring and summer? They're a bit louder then mourning doves for those who have not had the pleasure yet.

Tim
 
last Fall....it was a much smaller bird than the ones I see so commonly in Florida when I go there so it might have been an escaped cage bird...I don't think they are breeding here yet but they have been shot here in Washington in the Dove season....

They call like you are hearing all year long.....They have all but replaced the Mourning Doves in the residential areas around my Mother In Law's house in Merritt Island....last time I was there Debby and I walked from her Mom's house to my sister's, a distance of less than a mile....in that distance I counted over 200 of them and those were just the ones sitting on the pwer lines and flying....I don't think I saw more than a a dozen or so Mourning Doves in the same walk....

Steve
 
I hear them in spring and summer. I thought they'd be dumb in the winter... sure enough I found one in a road when it snowed and scared it by driving up next to it, rolling the window down and taking a picture of it. Flew to a snowbank 5 feet away to continue it's freezing it's butt off... This was about 50 miles north of St. Louis in Illinois in Pike County. (I did see some monster bucks when I was up there)

IMG_4042.jpg

 
This is the only one I've ever seen. It sounds like there are two areas in Indiana that have "colonies" but in my experience that doesn't account for other areas that are not being noticed.

jwacollareddove-1.jpg


The Monk Parakeet is another species that falls into this catagory. How you could miss a 100 lb clay(or whatever it is)nest in the tree in the park down the street with 47 green parrots flying around it is beyond me BUT I saw two areas last year in NW Indiana that supposedly had never been reported to anybody.
 
We have tons of them down here. In town, out on the farms, suburbs, etc....
I have shot one yet, haven't dove hunted in years. However, our game dept has ruled that they are not part of the dove limit since they are non-native. So they are bonus birds.
We are also starting to see whitewinged doves here, started showing up in the last few years. THey do count towards your dove limit.
 
When i worked at the pool I would sit around the pool deck and talk to them when they were out and talking. They could be counted on for a little bit of entertainment all year long, at least when talking to/calling them. It irritated the people I worked with when I did that, but such is life.
 
They are very aggressive breeders and, as Dani has stated, have become firmly established in FLA. Probably will have some impact on the native doves, I think.

Many years ago I got a pair from my grandfather. Within three years I had a nice flock of over 20, and that was with me regularly culling them...ie, "birds for breakfast". heck, Im probably the one responsible for introducing them in Fernandina Beach, hah.

Mighty tasty, especially in the squab stage (much to mom's horror).

James
 
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