Streptopelia dove in Orem

["David S. Wheeler" <dwheeler at deq dot state dot ut dot us>]

Larene Wyss & I went down to look at the dove this afternoon and decided it is something other than a countable Eurasian collared dove.  Here's why we think so:

1--the bird let me get to less than 10 feet of it, with little fear>>>very tame indeed
2--bird was very pale all over, with primaries only slightly daker than the rest of the pale wing.  It was paler than the ECD in Sibley's guide.
3--the bird was washed with a rosy tint, especially on the breast (note "peach" variant listed in Sibley's).  Belly was very pale, all the way to tail (in fact, incresingly so toward tail).  No gray tones anywhere.  Some pale brown on wings.
4--the "tail" consisted of one, possibly two, pure white feather, and I'm not even sure it was a retrice. Certainly it was not a full-grown retrice (the primaries extended far beyond it, and it stuck up above them at rest).
5--Undertail coverts/vent area were/was pure white to buff, with no sign of black anywhere.  It may not even have had coverts to speak of.
6--White border around black collar is only slightly contrasting with pale on hindneck.

 We saw it both perched and flying for a long time.

The bird is a Streptopelia dove of some sort, and I'll check my Eurasian/African field guides when I get home--roseogrisa????  Either way, I believe it is an escapee because of its tameness and roughed-up condition.  It had no visible bands on its legs.

Too bad.  But Eurasian collared doves are spreading and will reach Utah some day.  Our vigil must not waver.

- --David Wheeler

========================================================================
 Send submissions to . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  birdnet@utahbirds.org
 Send replies to . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  birdnet@utahbirds.org
   or to the original poster indicated in the From: line of the post
 Send (un)subscribe requests to  . . . .  birdnet-request@utahbirds.org
   In message body: type "subscribe" (without quotes) to subscribe
   In message body: type "unsubscribe" (without quotes) to unsubscribe
 Send problem reports to . . . . . . . . .  owner-birdnet@utahbirds.org
 Visit the Utah Birds web site at  . . . . .   http://www.utahbirds.org

------------------------------