New occupant in the West Paull household

December 14th

Lulu made it! Her wing was repaired by a vet..........and, five days later, off she flew!!


December 7th

Lulu's still with us...................living in a big, big box...........can't take her outside 'cos the temperature is well below freezing.

I so hope she makes it.....................i feel so sorry for her.


December 5th

Well, I've just put down today's NYT, the paper, as usual, leaving me feeling depressed about the state of the world. page after page of murder and mayhem and corruption from around the world. Today's edition was compounded by the so sad story of the stranded whales, dying in Florida.

It's time, I think, for a newspaper to be created that reports on only the GOOD things of life.

One story could be about the the new occupant of my home, an unfortunate collared dove that flew into my window and badly injured its wing:

I found it lying upside down in the snow, trying to flap its wings................and put it (as yet unnamed) in a large box. It's such a beautiful bird, one of a flock that have been feeding outside the front door.

Matilda didn't seem to mind having a bird in a box!!

I did some homework and learned the following:

Cool Facts

• Eurasian Collared-Doves made their way to North America via the Bahamas, where several birds escaped from a pet shop during a mid-1970s burglary; the shop owner then released the rest of the flock of approximately 50 doves. 
• People have helped make the Eurasian Collared-Dove at home in North America. Bird feeders and trees planted in urban and suburban areas are cited as two of the main factors in the species’ colonization of the continent.
• The Eurasian Collared-Dove’s species name,decaocto, comes from Greek mythology. Decaocto was a servant girl transformed into a dove by the gods to escape her unhappy treatment; the dove’s mournful cry recalls her former life.
• While most birds meet their chicks’ protein needs with insects, doves feed their newly hatched chicks a fat- and protein-rich “crop milk.” This whitish fluid comes from liquid-filled cells that slough off the lining of the crop, a portion of the esophagus. After 5 or 10 days, the chicks switch to a diet of regurgitated seeds or fruit.
• Eurasian Collared-Doves are one of very few species that can drink “head down,” submerging their bills and sucking water as though drinking through a straw. Most birds must scoop water and tip the head back to let it run down into the throat.
• The oldest recorded Eurasian Collared-Dove from the wild was 13 years 8 months old.

Habitat

Town

Eurasian Collared-Doves are found throughout much of North America in urban and suburban settings with access to bird feeders and other seed sources. In agricultural areas they seek open sites where grain is available, including farmyards, fields, and areas around silos. They avoid areas with heavy forest cover or extremely cold temperatures, which may explain their absence from the Northeast.

Food

Seeds

Eurasian Collared-Doves eat mainly seed and cereal grain such as millet, sunflower, milo, wheat, and corn. They also eat some berries and green parts of plants, as well as invertebrates.

Nesting

Nesting Facts

Clutch Size

1–2 eggs

Number of Broods

3-6 broods

Egg Length

1.1–1.2 in
2.7–3.1 cm

Egg Width

0.8–0.9 in
2.1–2.4 cm

Incubation Period

14–19 days

Nestling Period

17 days

Egg Description

Smooth, white, slightly glossy.

Condition at Hatching

Covered in down.

Nest Description

The male dove brings the female twigs, grasses, roots and other nesting materials, which he sometimes pushes directly under her. Over 1 to 3 days she builds a simple platform nest, which may include feathers, wool, string and wire. A pair often uses the same nest for multiple broods during the year, and may renovate old nests.

Nest Placement

Tree

Males show females potential nest sites in trees and on buildings, giving a low- pitched, slow koo-KOO-kook call at each site. Nests are usually built 10 or more feet above the ground. In warmer regions, Eurasian Collared-Doves can nest year-round, which may help explain their success as colonizers.

Behavior

Ground Forager

Eurasian Collared-Doves roost on utility poles, wires, and tall trees in open areas near feeding sites. Mainly ground foragers, they peck at grain and seeds scattered beneath backyard feeders and on feeding platforms, or spilled at farmyards. Flocks of 10 to several hundred doves may gather at prime spots. Although they can feed peacefully in mixed flocks, Eurasian Collared-Doves will also chase off other birds, including Mourning Doves, cardinals, and Blue Jays. The male advertises for a mate with an insistent koo-KOO-kook call from a high perch, repeating the call up to a dozen times in a bout, sometimes starting before dawn and continuing into the night. Calls are followed by a flight display in which the male flies steeply upward, clapping his wings, then descends with tail spread, often spiraling down to the same or a nearby perch. Once a pair has formed, males show females potential nest sites, usually in tall trees but occasionally on buildings. In between these “site visits” the pair vigorously preen each other. Male doves bring females sticks and other material for the simple nest, and aggressively chase away other collared-doves, as well as predators—venture too close and you risk getting hit by a flapping wing. The monogamous pair may raise up to six broods a year; the female can lay a new clutch while young are still in a previous nest.

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Conservation

status via IUCN

Least Concern

Since their introduction into Florida in the early 1980s, Eurasian Collared-Doves have spread rapidly and now occur throughout much of the U.S., especially in areas converted to agriculture and urban uses. Both intentional and accidental introductions have likely hastened their spread. Studies on interactions between collared-doves and other species have not yet shown a negative impact on populations of native birds, including Mourning Doves. As an introduced species, Eurasian Collared-Doves are not protected from hunting and have become popular game birds in rural areas of the Southeast and Texas.