African Collared-Doves, Lafayette, Boulder County

[Ted Floyd]

Hello, Birders.

The short version of the story. Several African Collared-Doves (Streptopelia roseogrisea) are present in the residential neighborhood just west of Greenlee Preserve, Boulder County. I audio-recorded one late in the morning this warm Monday, Oct. 20. A bit distant, but I think diagnostic:

https://soundcloud.com/ted-floyd/african-collared-dove-2014-10-20-1048-colo-boul-lafa-y

More on the collared-doves in a moment, but first a note for the Boulder County birder who still "needs" Bushtit for 2014. This morning, a sputtering flock was strewn along the trail along the south side of the preserve (north side of Waneka Lake). They're still here. Git 'em while the gittin's good, I'd say.

Back to the African Collared-Doves. In reviewing audio from the past few months around Lafayette, I can tell that these doves have been around for a while. And I have a photo from a month or so ago. It's fascinating and wonderful that I'd just dismissed them as Eurasian Collared-Doves. I wonder if they're breeding. And if so, with whom. African Collared-Dove genes may be more prevalent in the North American Streptopelia genome than a lot of us realize:

https://aba.org/nab/v64n4p548.pdf

Well, they're here. I'll post excessively and obnoxiously about them in the months and years to come... :-)

Ted Floyd

Lafayette, Boulder County, Colorado

[The "Nunn Guy"]

Hi Ted

We've had a "white"/pale-looking "Eurasian-collared Dove-like" bird coming to our yard for past few years--been calling it a Ringed Turtle Dove.

All About Birds reference states "The African Collared-Dove is very rarely seen as a wild bird in North America, and it is very difficult to distinguish from the Eurasian Collared-Dove. Birds that are seen are often escaped pets and are often called Ringed Turtle-Doves, a form of African Collared-Dove that has been domesticated for centuries. These birds frequently escape from captivity, and feral populations have become established in some cities in the southern United States. "

Are the two birds one in the same?  If not, possible to distinguish the bird coming to our feeders?

Thanks Gary Lefko
http://coloradobirder.ning.com/
Mobile:  http://coloradobirder.ning.com/m

[Nathan Pieplow]

Gary and all,

The African Collared-Dove (="Ringed Turtle-Dove") can be difficult to distinguish from Eurasian Collared-Dove by eye, but it is fairly easy to distinguish by ear.  The Eurasians' song is a three-note coo, often repeated, which I sometimes transliterate as "No FAIR, Mom!"  It never has a burry quality.  The Africans' song is a single "hip" note followed by a long, burry coo (this pattern often repeated): "Hip - burrrroooooo!"

You can hear typical Eurasian Collared-Dove songs here:
http://www.xeno-canto.org/species/Streptopelia-decaocto?query=type%3Asong&view=3

You can hear African Collared-Dove songs here:
http://www.xeno-canto.org/157540
https://soundcloud.com/ted-floyd/african-collared-dove-2014-10-20-1048-colo-boul-lafa-y (Ted's recording)

The common calls are also quite distinctive.  Eurasian Collared-Doves give a wheezy, 1-syllabled groan, sometimes give 2-3 times in a row:
http://www.xeno-canto.org/species/Streptopelia-decaocto?query=type%3Acall&view=3

while African Collared-Doves give a remarkably human-like laugh, or descending whinny:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_ueMAZ1eIA&feature=related

Great find by Ted.  I hope more people can keep eyes and ears open for this species in Colorado.

Nathan Pieplow
Boulder

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[Eric DeFonso]

Hi all,

I had the good fortune of birding in Puerto Rico last March, where, among other things, I had my first exposure to African Collared-Dove. As Nathan mentions, they are indeed vocally distinct from Eurasian Collared-Dove (and at least with the population I observed, subtly but detectably distinct visually).

Most of my experience with the bird was in the area of La Parguera, a town in the SW quarter of the island. I had my recording equipment with me on my travels, but all the AFCDs I encountered were in town (not surprisingly) in areas strewn with power lines which at the time were an unsolvable problem for my recording efforts due to heavy electromagnetic interference. I have since come up with makeshift solutions that would have allowed me to make a decent recording even next to a power line, but oh well, I'm not there anymore.

At any rate, the other main point I wanted to make here was that before and during my travels, I frequently used eBird to get info on where to go on the island for certain specialties, native or otherwise. According to eBird submissions made by visiting birders over the previous year or so, the vast majority of the collared-doves observed in that area were Eurasian, but I never once came across a collared-dove that I thought was a Eurasian. At least vocally, I thought *all* of them, and there were quite a few in town, were African. So I contend that there is widespread lack of awareness of the difference and in fact, even the existence, of African Collared-Dove. And it may well be that it's not just in Puerto Rico that birders are missing the identification of this separate and distinct taxon, but perhaps even here in North America, and as Ted diligently noted, perhaps even in our own Front Range backyards!

Good birding,

Eric

On Tue, Oct 21, 2014 at 11:26 AM, Nathan Pieplow <npie...@gmail.com> wrote:

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Eric DeFonso
Boulder, CO

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Eric DeFonso
Boulder, CO

[Deborah Carstensen]

My phone sent the previous email before I was ready. But I pretty much just needed to sign my name,

Deb Carstensen, Littleton, Arapahoe County

Sent from my iPhone

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