[mou] Inca dove still in Two Harbors

[Laura Erickson]

Although Richard is correct that Inca Doves are not migratory, neither
are Northern Cardinals, yet as anyone who has birded in Minnesota over
the past decades knows, cardinals have expanded into many parts of the
state where they weren't found in earlier decades.
When young birds disperse, they disperse--and some keep going for
longer distances than others.  There's a great deal of individual
variation in this, especially in a species known to be expanding its
range, which the Inca Dove most definitely is.  According to Mueller,
Allan J.. 2004  . Inca Dove  (Columbina inca), The Birds of North
America Online (A. Poole, Ed.). Ithaca: Cornell Lab of Ornithology,
Inca Doves are "resident throughout range, with frequent extra-limital
records owing to on-going range expansion."

Although no one can say with 100% certainty where the heck the Two
Harbors bird came from, it's FAR more likely without clear evidence of
broken or frayed tail feathers, a leg band, or other evidence of
captivity that this bird arrived in Two Harbors on its own power.

Best, Laura Erickson

On Nov 10, 2007 4:01 PM, Richard Wood <rwoodphd at yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> Inca Doves are Usually located in the Texas area year-round, according to
> Sibley, so they shouldn't be migrating anywhere (but we all know about birds
> not being where they are supposed to be, witness Western Kingbirds on the
> East Coast, etc.).  That being said, I would be more concerned about why an
> Inca Dove is in Minnesota, as opposed to what it is eating.
>
> Is this a lost bird, in that it was perhaps in with some other dove species
> and somehow made its way north, or is it an escaped "kidnapee"?  My wife and
> I are speculating that it's probably the latter, that someone went south and
> snatched a bird and when it got back here, the bird managed to escape, and
> now it's lost.
>
> Good birding,
> Richard
>
> Richard L. Wood, Ph. D.
> Hastings, MN
> rwoodphd at yahoo.com
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----
> From: Laura Erickson <bluejay at lauraerickson.com>
> To: mou-net at moumn.org
>
> Sent: Saturday, November 10, 2007 12:15:45 PM
> Subject: Re: [mou] Inca dove still in Two Harbors
>
> Out-of-range birds are out of range because of either a screw-up in
> their internal migratory patterns or because someone released a
> captive bird or other odd accident.  If Jim and Sharon close down
> their feeding station, it is not going to send the bird on its way.
> It will send it in search of another source of food, but since its
> migratory instinct is out of alignment, it's as likely to move in a
> northerly direction as a southerly one.
>
> Scott Weidensaul has written a great deal about hummingbirds wintering
> in northern areas.  He thinks we're witnessing the start of the
> evolution of new migratory patterns and a new wintering range for
> them.  This may be true of some other species as well.  Feeders are
> now as much a part of the American landscape as highrises and other
> man-made changes that are harmful for birds.  At worst in this case,
> the bird will die after having stayed alive a few extra
> days/weeks/months because of bird feeding.  At best, it will put on
> enough fat to trigger a migratory movement in the right direction, or
> will actually survive the winter.
>
> The first cardinals to appear at feeders in Duluth may well have been
> doomed individuals, and were probably a breeding dead-end for those
> birds who arrived before there were potential mates here at the same
> time.  But little by little the numbers showing up increased, and now
> they're regular breeders in most Duluth neighborhoods.  That may or
> may not happen in the case of Inca Doves.  But these outliers from
> normal birds might as well have the same benefits we give our other
> backyard birds.  They certainly face the same, or greater, hazards,
> and most of those hazards come from other changes we humans have
> presented them with.  Might as well give them one little gift, too.
>
> Laura Erickson
> Duluth
>
>
> On Nov 9, 2007 10:37 AM, Tom Klein <Tom.Klein at dnr.state.mn.us> wrote:
> > Message: 1
> > Date: Thu, 08 Nov 2007 18:58:18 +0000
> > From: "jslind at frontiernet.net" <jslind at frontiernet.net>
> > Subject: [mou] Inca Dove still in Two Harbors
> > To: mou-net at moumn.org
> > Message-ID: <20071108185818.3qwnm6wijqtk4ook at webmail.frontiernet.net>
> > Content-Type: text/plain;      charset=ISO-8859-1;    DelSp="Yes";
> >        format="flowed"
> >
> > I just spotted the Inca Dove in our neighborhood again....Today at lunch I
> filled our feeders and tossed out some
> > seed in the yard and on the sidewalk so hopefully it will stick around.
> >
> > Sharon Lind
> >
> > An Inca dove in NE. Minnesota in November is in for some serious
> challenges.
> > Are you not dooming this bird by feeding it?
> >
> > Tom Klein
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
>
>
>
> --
> Laura Erickson
> For the love, understanding, and protection of birds
> www.lauraerickson.com
>
>
>
> There is symbolic as well as actual beauty in the migration of birds.
> There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of
> nature--the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after
> the winter.
>
>             --Rachel Carson
>
>
>
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-- 
Laura Erickson
For the love, understanding, and protection of birds
www.lauraerickson.com



There is symbolic as well as actual beauty in the migration of birds.
There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of
nature--the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after
the winter.

			--Rachel Carson