The white dove was a short-lived interlude; the white-winged doves seem to be with us constantly.
One family in 2011; two families in 2012 — and our yard isn’t that big.
A very early version of the birds who visited, befriended, and plagued Snoopy — this drawing, while faithful to Shultz’s work, was done by another artist.
Earlier this week I looked out, and it looked like the early “Peanuts” comic strip when Snoopy opened his dog house to a group of pigeon-like birds for their poker game. The birds took advantage of Snoopy’s largesse, and nearly over-ran him. (Woodstock was a product of that flock of birds, the last remaining vestige by Charles Shultz‘s death.)
At least they didn’t drink our beer and try to make off with the Picasso.
White-winged doves are really too big for any of our feeders — but what are you going to tell a rampaging herd of them? Photos by Ed Darrell – use encouraged with attribution.
Enough doves to frighten Alfred Hitchcock — Two of these birds is too many for either side of this feeding station. How many do you see here?
Not enough room for all, and so they jostle and push each other off the feeders. See the display of the white stripe on the wings of one of our subjects here, from which the species gets its name.
Blue jays enforce the “too-long-or-too-many-at-the-feeder” rules here, but they can be distracted by peanuts put out by neighbors. In any case, they were absent when we needed them.
We used to have mourning doves, but at some point in the last five years this bunch pushed them out. We may be the only ones on the block who noticed. (Yes, it’s “mourning” dove; Duncanville’s having misspelled it on “Morning Dove Lane” is their error.)
More:
- White-winged doves at All About Birds (Cornell University’s ornithology site)
- Contrast with mourning doves
- National Wildlife Federation Backyard Habitat program (get your yard certified!)
[…] White-winged doves […]
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