Sunday, March 01, 2015

White Dove

Last Sunday morning Jilda and I were listening to music as we sipped coffee on the couch. The birds outside our window needed an aviary traffic controller. The redbirds and sparrows came in early to feed at the feeders. Soon afterwards, the jays and thrushes had their turn. Before turning the area over to the doves. It's a pretty amazing show.

But as we watched the doves feed on the split logs and corn off the ground, we noticed one that was unlike any we have ever seen before.

We have seen white doves at weddings, and funerals, but I've never seen one in the wild. While this one was not totally white, it was fairly close.

I think it was a harbinger telling us to go get bread and milk because the snow is on its way.

Have you ever seen a white dove in the wild?




12 comments:

  1. Interesting. I see the dove as gold and white. Mrs. C sees it as blue and white.

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  2. The mourning doves in this area area a very light gray. Perhaps that is what you have there.

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  3. Funny, I just left Organic Discourse and she was talking about Hawks and Doves. I had never thought of it, but no, now that you bring it up, I have never seen a white dove in the wild.
    Strange, I never thought about that.

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  4. I have never seen a white dove in the wild. That is very interesting!

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  5. I've never seen a blue dove. Nor a white dove. They are all grey up here. Grey pigeons.

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  6. We have lots of Mourning Doves here but I never seen a white one like in your picture. I wonder if she's a mutant.

    I would think that it's a lucky sign for both of you. I hope it stays around.
    Thanks for sharing.
    I just love doves.
    JB

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  7. Rick, it might be a ringed turtle-dove. I have had a couple of them nest nearby from time to time. Here is what I wrote on my blog a few years ago:

    For the past three summers, there has been a pair of ringed turtle-doves nesting nearby. We often have mourning doves in the area, but when these showed up three summers ago, I was pleased with this lighter colored bird with a quite distinctive voice, kind of a rising and falling koo-kreee. I had wrongly identified it at first, thinking it was a white-winged dove (thinking of the Stevie Nicks song), until I did some research and found that the white-winged dove’s habitat is in the west...

    When the doves first appeared, it was during a particularly trying time. I was always pleased when I was outside and heard the dove’s call as she flew. I took heart when I would look up and see her perched up in the top of the cypress tree. The dove's presence was a cheerful reminder that it's not dark yet. After that, two more summers came and heralded the arrival of the doves.

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  8. No I have never seen a white dove in the wild, the only white birds I see are the white cockatoos that are around this area

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  9. Hello Rick...Well, in Arizona, I saw many mourning doves and listed to their sad cooing. I think they are the same as the dove in your photo. Susan

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  10. Yes we had two in our yard. We loved them. They do make you feel peaceful.
    Love nature.
    Wish I could go out and live up north.

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  11. we had a pure white one for a while one fall, here. it was obviously hand-raised and probably released at a wedding or something as it let me get close enough to touch it once. it disappeared on the opening day of dove hunting season in texas never to be seen again. *sigh*

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  12. Very nice capture! I have seen a few very close to pure white pigeons in flight, but the doves we see here are more tannish--mourning doves.

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