Dove courting, Eurasian style

[John Morgan <jmorgan1 at integrity dot com>]

My entire family witnessed a real treat today. While chillin' out on the
deck, we heard the unique pigeon-like cooing of the Eurasian Collared Dove
that's been hanging here since early January. He was in a nearby tree. A
lone Mourning Dove was nearby on the top of the chain-link fence. Both
then flew to one of my feeders at ground level where he (the Eurasian)
began some head-bobbing tactics. Soon they went back to a nearby tree

The Eurasian then took off, flapping complete straight-winged strokes
where the primaries made an audible contact at the top and bottom of each
stroke...followed by a circular glide back to his perch--typical dove
mating manuevers. Minutes later, the female Mourning Dove flew right at us
and landed up on the roof of my house. The Eurasian followed, but landed
and perched directly on the edge of a small gable portion of my roof just
9' above where my son and his wife were sitting on a deck swing. Seeing
the bird had landed on the house, I walked out on the deck (had been
watching out the window). So now I'm standing not 12' away from the
Eurasian, who seems perfectly calm about it all.

Soon the female Mourning Dove flew to the lawn just below the deck. The
Eurasian dropped down to the deck surface, a mere 8' from where I'm
standing. What a view! Shortly, he hopped to the ground and the two slowly
worked closer to each other and soon began a feeding frenzy at my seed
block....again, just 10' from where I'm standing. I went down the 3 steps
to ground level and slowly moved back to a point 10' away, then sat and
watched them for 30 mins, thinking they might actually mate. It didn't
happen, but I have every reason to believe it will shortly.

Wow. What a treat to witness a rare dove's mating behaviors with those not
of his genus. The female Mourning Dove didn't seem bothered by his strange
dirty-whitish coat and black neck ring. I guess neck rings are in style?
Just another dove from "the hood?"

John

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