Hi folks. Having seen a recent comment on another thread regarding Rock Doves, I remembered about a few shots I had taken last summer at the Kyle of Tongue, in north west Sutherland. These birds were foraging in the seaweed at low tide. I had thought at the time they may be Rock Doves, but given the apparent rarity of ‘pure’ birds, I’m not sure. Any opinions would be welcome.
The next three shots are from a different area, (around 8 miles from the Kyle).
This next shot isn't the best, but it wonder if it appears to show part of a white patch on the back of the bird?
Like I said, any opinions would be most welcome. Thanks in advance.
Paul
My bird photos HERE
They appear to have all the right markings, Paul, but I'm not expert enough to know whether they are pure Rock Dove. They are very attractive looking birds whatever their genes are.
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Tony
My Flickr Photostream
There are probably no populations of Rock Doves anywhere in the UK that have zero influence from feral and/or domestic pigeons, but these are probably pretty close to 'pure'. However, the bird on the far left of your first pic has a 'grizzle' pattern (mottled with white), suggestive of some recent domestic/feral ancestry, though mutations like this can also arise spontaneously of course. All the others have proper Rock Dove plumage.
My blog: http://mazzaswildside.blogspot.co.uk/
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The doves on the East coast of Yorkshire used to be a good spot to pick up birds that were close to Rock Doves but in the last 20 years or so they have got so diluted that it is now a struggle to get many birds even showing much of their heritage. Paul's birds do seem to show a lot more pointers than most birds I have seen recently.
Pete
Birding is for everyone no matter how good or bad we are at it,enjoy it while you can
Thanks folks, it's nice to know that even if they aren't 110% genuine, I suspect that they're are as close as I'll probably ever come to seeing a 'real' Rock Dove. And I do agree with you, TJ, they are very attractive looking birds.
Not only attractive looking,some that lean more to domestic pigeons are really bonny birds,they are also great opportunists and seem to be capable of adapting to many habitats and a wide variety of food sources including a wide selection of pizza toppings among our local birds.