Jan-08-2010
Zenaida Auriculata, The Eared Dove, Torcaza
Pigeons, who wants to know about pigeons? they are just peregrine falcon fodder, right? Or as Michael Ondaatje calls them, flying rats.
Zenaida Auriculata, The Eared Dove, Torcaza
(PATAGONIA, Argentina) - Today as my husband headed off to the organic dairy for our milk, cheese and yogurt, I stepped across the road to the bosque, camera in hand to catch a photo of the eared dove we see in Argentina.
A few posed nicely in the skeletal remains of a drought- killed native cypress tree. This pretty little cooing bird is a close relative of the North American mourning dove and like it, is a game bird that hunters shoot by the thousands when they descend on the grain fields of northern Argentina’s provincial estancias (rural estates, or ranches).
Of course the eared doves are related to the Passenger pigeons, long ago shot to extinction. With increased grain production in Argentina for biodesel fuels, there are increased opportunities for these birds to grab some fast food as they wing by, at times darkening the sky with their numbers.
So far, unlike the Passenger pigeon, the eared dove and the mourning dove seem to be holding their own. Although there was a virus contracted from domestic fowl in the 1950’s and these doves were brought so close to extinction, that in 1977 the Kovacs team in Rio Negro Province was only able to locate 16 eared doves a few miles away at Lago Puelo, Chubut Province.
Gradually, they made a comeback until in the late 1980’s bands were more numerous, up to 50 or 60 individuals in a flock, and are now seen throughout the region of El Bolson and Lago Puelo and Chubut Province. There has been some talk of cloning the North American mourning dove, to try to bring the passenger pigeon back from extinction. Perhaps the scientists should get going on their project now.
On the other hand, torcazas mate for life, work as a team raising their young and take alternate twelve hour shifts on nest guard duty. They build a very precarious nest. The male perches on the female’s back, passing her material while she constructs the nest I have not seen one of these nests, but I wouldn’t be criticizing its construction given the working conditions. The two eggs are very rounded and pure white.
After snapping a few photos I went home to do a little research. The more I learned of these birds the more interested I became.
Soon Eddie returned home with our milk products - but I had milk news of my own... It seems that although they eat primarily seeds, Zenaida auriculata feed their young dove’s milk. Milk?
They regurgitate for the squab (pigeon young) something very similar to the liquid produced by mammals for their young. And if you want to see it you can check it out on the YouTube video posted below.
In less then a week, squabs begin to get plumage and the parents begin feeding them seeds, worms and fruits half digested to augment the pigeon's milk. But even after fledgelings leave the nest, they are fed by the father bird for a few more weeks. I didn’t note any mention of the female standing on his back while he feeds them. I have to hand it to these doves, they have pretty darn good give and take.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60VJiE51Ul0&feature=player_embedded
