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Collared Dove


Collared Dove
Photo Information
Copyright: Peter van Zoest (PeterZ) Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 5137 W: 166 N: 13121] (49139)
Genre: Animals
Medium: Color
Date Taken: 2008-04-05
Categories: Birds
Camera: Nikon D70, Sigma 135-400mm f/4.5-5.6 APO, Digital RAW
Exposure: f/5.6, 1/500 seconds
Details: Tripod: Yes
More Photo Info: [view]
Photo Version: Original Version
Date Submitted: 2012-12-26 5:48
Viewed: 3536
Points: 52
[Note Guidelines] Photographer's Note
Another photo from my archive, taken in my garden. Nowadays there are two couples in the garden whole year long.

The Eurasian Collared Dove (Streptopelia decaocto) most often simply called the Collared Dove, also sometimes hyphenated as Eurasian Collared-dove is a species of dove native to Asia and Europe, and also recently introduced in North America.

Description
It is a medium sized dove, distinctly smaller than the Wood Pigeon, similar in length to a Rock Pigeon but slimmer and longer-tailed, and slightly larger than the related Turtle Dove, 30–33 cm long from tip of beak to tip of tail, with a wingspan of 47–55 cm, and a weight of 125–240 g. It is grey-buff to pinkish-grey overall, a little darker above than below, with a blue-grey under wing patch. The tail feathers are grey-buff above, and dark grey tipped white below; the outer tail feathers also tipped whitish above. It has a black half-collar edged with white on its nape from which it gets its name. The short legs are red and the bill is black. The iris is red, but from a distance the eyes appear to be black, as the pupil is relatively large and only a narrow rim of reddish-brown iris can be seen around the black pupil. The eye is surrounded by a small area of bare skin, which is either white or yellow. The two sexes are virtually indistinguishable; juveniles differ in having a poorly developed collar, and a brown iris.

It is closely related to the Island Collared Dove of southeast Asia and the African Collared Dove of sub-Saharan Africa, forming a superspecies with these. Identification from African Collared Dove is very difficult with silent birds, with the African species being marginally smaller and paler, but the calls are very distinct, a soft purring in African Collared Dove quite unlike the Eurasian Collared Dove's cooing.

Distribution
The Collared Dove is not migratory, but is strongly dispersive. Over the last century, it has been one of the great colonisers of the bird world. Its original range at the end of the 19th century was warm temperate and subtropical Asia from Turkey east to southern China and south through India to Sri Lanka. In 1838 it was reported in Bulgaria, but not until the 20th century did it expand across Europe, appearing in parts of the Balkans between 1900–1920, and then spreading rapidly northwest, reaching Germany in 1945, Great Britain by 1953 (breeding for the first time in 1956), Ireland in 1959, and the Faroe Islands in the early 1970s. Subsequent spread was 'sideways' from this fast northwest spread, reaching northeast to north of the Arctic Circle in Norway and east to the Ural Mountains in Russia, and southwest to the Canary Islands and northern Africa from Morocco to Egypt, by the end of the 20th century. In the east of its range, it has also spread northeast to most of central and northern China, and locally (probably introduced) in Japan. It has also reached Iceland as a vagrant (41 records up to 2006), but has not colonised successfully there.

There are two subspecies, Streptopelia decaocto decaocto in most of the range (including all of the 20th century colonisations), and Streptopelia decaocto xanthocyclus in the southeast of the range from Burma east to southern China. The latter differs in having yellow skin around the eye (white in the nominate subspecies). Two other subspecies formerly sometimes accepted, Streptopelia decaocto stoliczkae from Turkestan in central Asia, and Streptopelia decaocto intercedens from southern India and Sri Lanka, are now considered synonyms of S. d. decaocto.

Behaviour
Collared Doves typically breed close to human habitation wherever food resources are abundant and there are trees for nesting; almost all nests are within a kilometre of inhabited buildings. The female lays two white eggs in a stick nest, which she incubates during the night and which the male incubates during the day. Incubation lasts between fourteen and eighteen days, with the young fledging after fifteen to nineteen days. Breeding occurs throughout the year when abundant food is available, though only rarely in winter in areas with cold winters such as northeastern Europe. Three to four broods per year is common, although up to six broods in a year has been recorded.

The male's mating display is a ritual flight, which, as many other pigeons, consists of a rapid, near-vertical climb to height followed by a long glide downward in a circle, with the wings held below the body in an inverted "V" shape. At all other times, flight is typically direct using fast and clipped wingbeats and without use of gliding.
The Collared Dove is not wary and often feeds very close to human habitation, including visiting bird tables; the largest populations are typically found around farms where spilt grain is frequent around grain stores or where livestock are fed. It is a gregarious species and sizable winter flocks will form where there are food supplies such as grain (its main food) as well as seeds, shoots and insects. Flocks most commonly number between ten and fifty, but flocks of up to ten thousand have been recorded.

The song is a coo-COO-coo, repeated many times. It is phonetically similar to the Greek decaocto ("eighteen"), to which the bird owes its zoological name. It also makes a harsh loud screeching call lasting about two seconds, particularly in flight just before landing. A rough way to describe the screeching sound is a hah-hah.

Collared Doves cooing in early spring are sometimes mistakenly reported as the calls of early-arriving Cuckoos and, as such, a mistaken sign of spring's return.
They are almost always seen in pairs and, like many birds, remain loyal to their mates.

Source: Wikipedia
Miss_Piggy, maaciejka, Chiza, CeltickRanger, Hussain58, McQueenca, rousettus, anel, jusninasirun has marked this note useful
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Discussions
ThreadThread Starter Messages Updated
To Hormon_Manyer: Collared DovePeterZ 1 01-11 00:15
To Hussain58: Turtle DovePeterZ 1 12-27 09:05
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Critiques [Translate]

Hello Peter,
a picture with perfection and beauty.
great clarity, colour and composition.
best wishes,
samiran

Hallo Peter
Such a lovely image of this dove looking all at peace. The details of its feathers is beautifully captured and is seen with great clarity. I like the almost full framed composition and the point of view. The colour and texture of the branch it is sitting on is very eye-catching and it almost appears to have a golden tone to it. Thanks for sharing. Best regards.
Anna

Hello Peter,
Lovely capture,very good expression and excellent clarity.
TFS and my regards,
Joy

Hello Peter
Incredibly beautiful and even light.
Excellent detail, very nice eye contact.
Perfect focus everywhere.
A fine photo
regards yiannis

  • Great 
  • siggi Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 3097 W: 109 N: 12399] (52850)
  • [2012-12-26 8:44]

Hello Peter,
Superb shot on this Turtle Dove. Great qulity soft light and a spot on exposure. The colors and detail in the plumage are just amazing.Very nice work!Regards Siggi

Ciao Peter, great capture of lovely turtle on beautiful liighting BG, fine details, splendid sharpness and wonderful natural colors, very well done, my friend, ciao Silvio

Hi Peter,
beautiful photo of this bird. Amazing natural colours. Nice composition. A lot of details.
Thanks for sharing,
Maciek

  • Great 
  • Chiza Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 133 W: 0 N: 474] (5351)
  • [2012-12-26 9:33]

Hola Peter, que belleza de foto y de especie, me gusta mucho la composición, la luz, color y entortno de la toma además del fondo espectacular. No conocía esta especie, muchas gracias por compartir. Felís año nuevo y deseo lo mejor para usted y sus seres querido...Luis.

  • Great 
  • lousat Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 6595 W: 89 N: 15659] (65489)
  • [2012-12-26 12:50]

Hi Peter,your archive is very rich of beauty to show us as i can see.A magnificent dove that turn the head just for you and your camera,for the best pic.Great plumage details and colors in a perfect exposure.Have a nice day and thanks,Luciano

Hello Peter,
Fantastic definition and a beautifully composed image with the very plain and complementary background and the angles of the various main components all working together. Well done and best wishes.
Neels

Hello Peter

Excellent close-up shot of the Turtle Dove,
fine POV and framing, beautiful eye-contact
and catch-light, great focus, sharpness, details, TFS

Asbed

Excellent capture of this Turtle Dove!
TFS & regards

Hello Peter
Beautiful photo with excellent composition, wonderful lighting and good sharpness.
Regards,
Christodoulos

  • Great 
  • nagraj Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1618 W: 106 N: 3208] (15166)
  • [2012-12-27 6:09]

Hi,
Beautiful portrait and smooth colors for this lovely dove. tfs.
nagraj.v

Hello Peter, dear friend,

Hope you and your family are doing fine. I have come to this late but I have really enjoyed this almost perfect shot of this beautiful familiar bird of Europe. What a delight they are for us and how our lawns and gardens are alive because of them and their wonderful calls !It is sitting snug on the branch, a little puffed up as is reflected by the fine plumage captured in this excellent shot. The eye seems a little noisy/ perhaps blurred hinting that the photo is slightly over-cropped.Do not know though. I take it among your best on this site.
Thanks a lot for sharing a real beauty from archives and what a treasure trove this archive of yours is, Peter....smile......take care....warm regards/Abid

Hallo Peter
super scherp en veel details van deze duif
de kleuren zijn weer prachtig
bedankt gr lou

  • Great 
  • fiyo Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 1053 W: 5 N: 3475] (15161)
  • [2012-12-27 9:07]

Merhaba Peter,
Netliği ve detayları ve arka fonu ile çok güzel fotoğraf..tebrikler..

Hi Peter
This is a good image for the season. His pose and your sharpness show great detail in his feathers. It looks like his head could be covered with velvet. He was definitely watching you.
All this set on a complimentary coloured background. A fine image Peter, you are lucky to have these birds sharing your yard.
Thanks for sharing
Colin

  • Great 
  • KOMSIS Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 820 W: 0 N: 2419] (10674)
  • [2012-12-28 10:09]

Hallo Peter,
Great wing detail ..
Very nice point of view with good view on the patterns on the wings. Eye contact also
Best wishes,
Seyfi

Hallo Peter
what a lovely capture of cute Turtle Dove, with red eye iris. Great plumage details and eye contact. Thanks for sharing.
I wish you and your family a happy and healthy year in 2013.
Best wishes
Ahmet

  • Great 
  • iti Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 577 W: 0 N: 650] (7939)
  • [2012-12-30 5:23]

Hi Peter,
Perfect shot,good the eye's contact,good
composition and details.
Regards Jiri.

  • Great 
  • foozi Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 2791 W: 0 N: 6696] (25839)
  • [2013-01-02 5:20]

Hello Peter,
very sharp and well detailed image of this cute dove. The slight turn of the head gives a pleasant gesture and lovely natured shot.
Nice composition.

regards
Foozi

Peter, this is a great capture of this dove. I like the sharpness, detail and POV. Beautiful job.

  • Great 
  • anel Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 3053 W: 3 N: 8715] (40574)
  • [2013-01-03 4:57]

Hello Peter,
Missed this fine bird-shot. Love the subtle grey of its plumage and the cute attitude o this Turtle-Dove. Lovely!
Bonne année!
Kind regards
Anne

Hi Peter,
Exceptional photo. But imho showing Streptopelia decaocto, a species much less colorful than S. turtur. Mostly in the beginning of the breeding season like early April. In this period turtur has brownish feathers on the wings, both light and dark, not simple grey as your otherwise beautiful image shows.
Best regards, László

Hello Peter.
You have transformed this bird into a fine beauty. The close framing with vivid details of the feather is pleasing against the silenced gray background.
Regards,
Jusni

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