Two Turtle Doves

[keswindhover]

Went to Otmoor RSPB Reserve near Oxford on Sunday and got a clear sound and sight of two turtle doves, one calling (the chap on the bare branch) and one listening. They are getting rarer by the day, so let's hope these two hook up and make many little turtle doves.

Comments

[kazzy_cee]

They are very pretty!

[keswindhover]

Aren't they? That marbling on the back and flash on the throat is very appealing. I wish they were commoner. They were certainly common when I was a wee Kes.

[curiouswombat]

Cute - but I am confused - where is the partridge in a pear tree?

[keswindhover]

Hanging out with the three French hens.

[keswindhover]

Apparently male turtle doves are very slightly bigger than female turtle doves - but that's not much use when they are 100 yards apart and up a tree. It is encouraging that one was calling and one listening, though. Two males would be competing. They could still be two females, however - not Bob and Dave but Sally and Freda.

[missmurchison]

Are they smarter than mourning doves? Because the mourning doves in my backyard tend to build nests in places like the rain gutter, which doesn't strike me as a good breeding strategy.

[keswindhover]

And yet mourning doves are common as muck, stupid or not. Turtle doves seem to have been devastated by modern farming practices here, and more people having guns to shoot them with in Africa.

p.s. there's still millions of them worldwide, though. We are just on the very edge of their range.

[jwaneeta]

Yay! Purty!