Mystery dove song at Golden Ponds

[iron...@gmail.com]

I was at Golden Ponds in Longmont this morning and in the back corner by the creek I heard an odd dove song. My first thought was that someone was blowing a recorder because it had that quality to it. The Merlin app didn't ping on it, but I did get a recording. I'm not sure if Cobirds will allow the link, but here goes nothing. You can hear it best at 1:49, 2:44, and 3:17: https://drive.google.com/file/d/14hsOg2PM-D2R0AVuDtFw4YdvgUeizcAe/view?usp=sharing

I couldn't locate the bird to see it, but the closest song to this that I could find is White-tipped Dove. Am I crazy? Is this just a weird Mourning Dove or Eurasian Collared-Dove? 

Jamie Simo

Longmont

[Matt Webb]

Interesting, Jamie!  I listened closely to the recording, and can hear a trilling occur before all three of the calls in the recording.  

At this link: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/White-tipped_Dove/sounds, check out the second recording, which includes a similar trill before each call.  Also on several recordings on Xeno-Canto from birds in Texas, like this: https://xeno-canto.org/277692

The trill in Jamie's recording sounds too low to resemble anything else I can think of that trills.  

I'm interested to hear what others think of this recording, and the possibility that Jamie recorded a White-tipped Dove?

Matt

Matthew M Webb

Senior Avian Ecologist and Motus Wildlife Tracking System Coordinator

Bird Conservancy of the Rockies

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On Tue, Apr 23, 2024 at 2:48 PM iron...@gmail.com <iron...@gmail.com> wrote:

I was at Golden Ponds in Longmont this morning and in the back corner by the creek I heard an odd dove song. My first thought was that someone was blowing a recorder because it had that quality to it. The Merlin app didn't ping on it, but I did get a recording. I'm not sure if Cobirds will allow the link, but here goes nothing. You can hear it best at 1:49, 2:44, and 3:17: https://link.edgepilot.com/s/9b410fe3/G0gyn7WLXUm2F6ix3v2iIw?u=https://drive.google.com/file/d/14hsOg2PM-D2R0AVuDtFw4YdvgUeizcAe/view?usp=sharing

I couldn't locate the bird to see it, but the closest song to this that I could find is White-tipped Dove. Am I crazy? Is this just a weird Mourning Dove or Eurasian Collared-Dove? 

Jamie Simo

Longmont

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[Diana Beatty]

They sound alike to me, also.

Diana Beatty

El Paso County 

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[Jamie]

I went back again this morning, but had no luck relocating it, unfortunately. 

--Jamie Simo

Longmont

On Wed, Apr 24, 2024, 9:52 AM Matt Webb <matt...@birdconservancy.org> wrote:

[Marty W]

Sounds like a match to me also, tho I have no experience with White-tipped Doves.

Marty Wolf

nw CO Spgs

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[Diana Beatty]

Is this something he should consider submitting to the bird records committee to evaluate?

Diana Beatty

El Paso

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[Nathan Pieplow]

Folks,

I do not believe the Longmont mystery bird is a White-tipped Dove. At least it's not a typical one.

I probably spend 5-10 days in White-tipped Dove's range in an average year. The candidate sound that people are hearing a resemblance to is what I call the "Growl Song" of White-tippped Dove. This is much less common than the regular song and apparently given in courtship situations. (Almost all North American dove species have some kind of raspy, growling, or trilled courtship song.)

Here are four examples of White-tipped Dove's Growl Song:

1. The second recording at this link: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/White-tipped_Dove/sounds (linked earlier by Matt)
2.  https://xeno-canto.org/277692, also linked earlier by Matt;
3. The two "Growl Song" examples at petersonbirdsounds.org

Note the distinctive rhythm of the Growl Song: short-long, short-short-short-long, with every note trilled except the last two (the second-to-last note is sometimes partly trilled). The last two notes (short-long without a trill) resemble the species' regular song. Everything pretty much happens on one pitch, except the long notes are lowest in the middle.

It's important to note that in every example of the White-tipped Dove Growl Song, the rhythm never varies much. This is universal among doves. They don't learn their songs, which means their songs don't usually vary much geographically or between individuals. We can expect all normal White-tipped Doves to deliver the same Growl Song with more or less the same rhythm and the same distribution of trilled and non-trilled notes, just as all White-winged Doves sing "Who cooks for you?" in their Short Song and "Who cooks for you, Julie? Who, Julie? Who?" in their Long Song.

The Longmont mystery bird does sound like a dove, and I can certainly hear the resemblance to White-tipped in tone quality, but the rhythm and distribution of trilled vs. non-trilled notes are way off. Part 1 of the song appears to be a single long, overslurred trill that almost recalls a screech-owl trill. Part 2 of the song seems to be a non-trilled 4-note short-short-short-long pattern, each note higher than the last. Neither song part lies within the bounds of White-tipped Dove variation. I can't match it to any dove species I know. My best guess would be a hybrid or an exotic of some type.

It's definitely a tremendously interesting recording. Kudos to Jamie Simo for noticing that it was weird and getting audio documentation. People in the area should keep their ears peeled in case this thing shows up again and starts singing. I would LOVE to know what is making this song.

Nathan Pieplow

Boulder

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