--Hi Marty,
In my experience, at least some of the collared-doves in certain years breed year 'round in CO. I have always considered that a major secret to their successful invasion of our state. If one listens to concentrated spates of "whooo-whoo-whoo" (i.e., courtship) in places where you walk or bird on a regular basis, I think you will record at several such periods of time coinciding with the number of nesting cycles per year (at least 6 spread thru all seasons of the year). The two areas I frequent with enough regularity upon which to base these statements are Fort Collins' Grandview Cemetery (they are courting right now) and Lamar. I have found days-old doves on the ground following wind storms at Fairmount Cemetery in Lamar in early January more than once. Things seem to be quiet when the females are preoccupied with tending nestlings. In the recently-received, very nice BBA II book (nice job, Lynn Wickersham), Paul Opler's excellent account of ECDove states there might be more to learn about their breeding in CO and I would agree, including the an apparent dearth of breeding between late autumn and early spring. I have a photo of ECDove courtship taken 22September. The birds were sitting atop the head of the Soldier Monument at Grandview. Only the stonefaced soldier could hear what the male whispered in his prospective mate's ear but it might have been something about how he looked forward to their kids enjoying their first Halloween. In other words, I think the reported gap in breeding activity in late fall-early winter is an artifact of BBA volunteer effort, and NOT a correct depiction of reality.
Lots to learn about the life histories of all bird species, including the abundant ones. Thanks for your post.
Dave Leatherman
Fort Collins
From: macawolf via Colorado Birds <cobirds@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Tuesday, December 27, 2016 8:53 PM
To: cobirds@googlegroups.com
Subject: [cobirds] Nest-building by Eurasian Collared Doves todayHi, Cobirders,
I was a little surprised by a pair of Eur. Collared Doves this morning building a nest from 8-9 am, in 32 F...
Birds of North America online says they breed from February to October, but will do so year-round in warmer climates. I know we had a warm fall, right into November, but lately it hasn't been so warm. The winds had died down finally (for 6 hours or so, as it turned out), so maybe it felt downright balmy & got them twitterpated for a spell... They were on the south-facing (sunny) side of a spruce, so maybe the micro-climate there added to their confusion? Our new Second CO Breeding Bird Atlas indicates breeding between late January thru the end of August. I haven't taken a close look to see what progress they made, but after more than a dozen trips I witnessed by the presumed male with single 4-6" pieces of grass stem, they seemed to stop the activity. Either came to their senses, or finished the job?? I'll have to look more closely tomorrow.
Marty Wolf,NW CO Spgs--
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