White-winged Dove
| White-winged Dove | |
|---|---|
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| Perching on a saguaro cactus in Tucson, Arizona, USA | |
| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Columbiformes |
| Family: | Columbidae |
| Genus: | Zenaida |
| Species: | Z. asiatica |
| Binomial name | |
| Zenaida asiatica (Linnaeus, 1758) |
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The White-winged Dove (Zenaida asiatica) is a dove whose native range extends from the south-western USA through Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean. In recent years with increasing urbanization and backyard feeding, it has expanded throughout Texas and into Louisiana. It has also been introduced to Florida.
The White-winged Dove is expanding outside of its historic range into Kansas, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and northern New Mexico. Unlike most of the White-winged Doves in Texas, the doves in these regions do not migrate in winter.
The rock singer Stevie Nicks, a native of Arizona, where the bird is most common in the USA, mentions the White-winged Dove and its call prominently in her 1981 hit "Edge of Seventeen".
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[edit] Description
White-winged Doves are large, chunky pigeons at 29 cm. They are brownish-gray above and gray below, with a bold white wing patch that appears as a brilliant white crescent in flight and is also visible at rest. Adults have a patch of blue, featherless skin around each eye and a long, dark mark on the lower face. Their eyes are bright crimson. The sexes are similar, but juveniles are more brown than adults. They have no blue eye ring and their legs and feet are brighter pink/red. Young also have brown eyes. Males have a slight iridescent sheen on their heads.
[edit] Behavior
The cooing calls are who-cooks-for-you and hoo hoo hoo. A drawn-out "hoo-a" sound is used to tell others about the presence of a predator. To impress females, males circle them with tail spread and wings raised. Males and females work together in raising the young. While calling, the tail flares. Families and nestmates often stay together for life, perching and foraging together.
[edit] Ecology
Most populations of White-winged Doves are migratory, wintering in Mexico and Central America. The White-winged Dove inhabits scrub, woodlands, desert, urban, and cultivated areas. It builds a flimsy stick nest in a tree of any kind and lays two cream-colored to white, unmarked eggs. One chick often hatches earlier and stronger, and so will demand the most food from the parents. A dove may nest as soon as 2–3 months after leaving the nest, making use of summer heat. The dove will nest as long as there is food and enough warmth to keep fledglings warm. In Texas, they nest well into late August.
White-winged Doves feed on a variety of seeds, grains, and fruits. Western White-winged Doves (Zenaida asiatica mearnsii) migrate into the Sonoran Desert to breed during the hottest time of the year because they feed on pollen and nectar, and later on the fruits and seeds of the Saguaro cactus. They also visit feeders, eating the food dropped on the ground. Cracked corn is a favorite of doves. This gregarious species can be an agricultural pest, descending on grain crops in large flocks. It is also a popular gamebird in areas of high population.
[edit] References
- Kelling, Steve. "Cornell Lab of Ornithology". "What we’re learning: Dynamic Dove Expansions: Citizen Science illustrates the spectacular range expansions taking place throughout North America". Audubon Conservation. http://web4.audubon.org/Bird/cbc/WWL-Dove_Expansion.html. Retrieved November 11, 2011.
- BirdLife International (2004). Zenaida asiatica. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 9 May 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern.
- "National Geographic" Field Guide to the Birds of North America ISBN 0-7922-6877-6
- Handbook of the Birds of the World Vol 4, Josep del Hoyo editor, ISBN 84-87334-22-9
- "National Audubon Society" The Sibley Guide to Birds, by David Allen Sibley, ISBN 0-679-45122-6
[edit] External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Zenaida asiatica |
- White-winged Dove Species Account - Cornell Lab of Ornithology
- White-winged Dove - Zenaida asiatica - USGS Patuxent Bird Identification InfoCenter
- White-winged Dove Information and Photos - South Dakota Birds and Birding
- Stamps (for Belize, Cayman Islands, Honduras, Mexico, and United States)
- White-winged Dove photo gallery VIREO-(picture of nest and egg clutch)
- White-winged Dove videos on the Internet Bird Collection
- White-winged Dove videos (Tree of Life)
- Raven, the Hand-Fed Dove (A true story)
- IUCN Red List least concern species
- Zenaida
- Birds of Mexico
- Birds of Baja Peninsula Mexico
- Birds of Central America
- Birds of the Yucatán Peninsula region
- Native birds of the Southwestern United States
- Native birds of the Southeastern United States
- Birds of the United States
- Fauna of the Lower Colorado River Valley
- Birds of the U.S. Rio Grande Valleys
- Birds of Belize
- Birds of Honduras
- Birds of the Caribbean
- Birds of Puerto Rico
- Birds of the Greater Antilles
- Birds of the Cayman Islands
- Birds of the British Virgin Islands
- Birds of the United States Virgin Islands
- North American migratory birds
- Urban animals
