Spotted Turtledoves nesting
14 Comments »21st September, 2010; Category: Bird Behaviour, Garden birds, Nests, Pigeons and Doves, Plants
Spotted Turtledove
The Spotted Turtledove is an introduced bird species in Australia. They are very common in many cities and towns in much of Australia. We usually have a few resident in our garden and near the house. On many occasions they have made nests and raised little ones.
Two weeks ago we had a near disaster in our garden. We had a very large 15 metre gum tree come down in our driveway in a violent storm. You can see pictures of some of it on my writing site here.
A few days after the storm I noticed a Spotted Turtledove gathering small sticks on the ground just outside my office. It was carrying the sticks into the thickest part of the canopy of the fallen tree. Little did it know that I was about to cut up that part of the tree the next day. Our movement nearby and the noise of the chain saw just metres away obviously frightened it away.
Two days later my wife saw the bird carrying sticks to another tree nearby. This time it had chosen a tree which was not on my demolition plans. The next day it had changed its mind and was building a nest in a thick bush on the other side of the house, a site they had used successfully in previous breeding attempts. I will keep an eye on it.
Some birds seen in Ouyen, NW Victoria
Peaceful Dove, Cleland Wildlife Park
Road trip to Sydney, May 2010
On the first day of our recent trip to Sydney we reached Ouyen in north-west Victoria in time for lunch. We found a park near the main street and as my wife prepared some rolls for lunch I wandered over the road to buy some treats from the local bakery. It’s an indulgence of ours. Country bakeries in Australia are usually very good, and this one was no disappointment.
While having lunch I tried to make a list of the birds heard and seen. We were a little distracted by the mice (House Mouse) wandering around the shelter shed in the picnic area. They seemed oblivious to our presence less than a metre away. I guess they thrived on the bits of food dropped y happy tourists like ourselves. We were only there for about twenty minutes, and seeing there was little time for an intensive bird search, my list is rather small. The highlight would have to be several Peaceful Doves in the bushes nearby.
Species seen:
Click on the names to go to other articles about each species.
- Galah
- Crested Pigeon
- Peaceful Dove
- Rock Dove
- Red Wattlebird
- Noisy Miner
- Singing Honeyeater
- Welcome Swallow
- House Sparrow
- Common Blackbird
Crested Pigeon in a bird bath
Crested Pigeon, Murray Bridge
I’m not sure if I’ve shown these photos before. Never mind if I have. I was sorting through a few photos taken a few months ago and came across these of a Crested Pigeon IN our bird bath. It wasn’t content to sit on the edge of the bowl – it had to actually get into it and sit in the water.
When I checked a few minutes later I discovered that there wasn’t much water there anyway, so the bird was probably giving me a hint: “Fill ‘er up, mate!”
So I did.
Crested Pigeon, Murray Bridge
Bar-shouldered Dove
Bar-shouldered Dove, Adelaide Zoo, South Australia
Bar-shouldered Doves can be found in eastern and northern Australia. Sadly I’ve only ever seen this beautiful species in the natural environment on one occasion – nearly 30 years ago in northern NSW. I need to get out and travel a little more! The above photo was taken in a walk through aviary at the Adelaide Zoo (click the image to enlarge).
This species is found in a variety of habitats, including subtropical scrublands, eucalyptus woodlands, gorges and gullies, near creeks and swamps and even in gardens with plenty of trees. Like many other species of pigeons and doves, they make a flimsy platform of a few sticks which serves somehow as a nest.
Further reading:
- Flock Bronzewing Pigeon
- Spotted Turtledove nesting
- Peaceful dove in our garden
- Great birding moments – Crested Pigeon
Flock Bronzewing pigeon
Flock Bronzewing pigeon, Adelaide Zoo, South Australia
The Flock Bronzewing is a pigeon found in the inland grasslands of Australia. They can be found in the northern parts of Western and South Australia, the Northern Territory inland Queensland and northern NSW. They were once found in large flocks numbering in the thousands but almost became extinct due to habitat loss. In more recent years they seem to have recovered a little.
This is one species of Australian birds that I have not yet seen in the natural environment. The photo above was taken through the wire of one of the aviaries at the Adelaide Zoo.
For more articles about Australian pigeons and doves click here.