Monterey Bay Birds for Saturday, February 2, 2002

Messages are displayed in the order they were received.  Subject  From  Time   White-Winged Dove   Al Eisner    7:14pm

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Subject: White-Winged Dove
From: Al Eisner <eisner(AT)slac.stanford.edu>
Date: 2 Feb 2002 7:14pm

    I was on the San Mateo Coast today, and decided to circle home through
Santa Cruz, in order to try for the Orchard Oriole at Natural Bridges.  I
gave it a bit over an hour in late afternoon, but didn't succeed.  This
was probably not a very good time of day.  At 4:30 I made one last scan for
it in the willows just east of marker 3, and found that a dove that had just
settled into the middle was a White-Winged Dove.  I watched it there for 
about 5 minutes - I had a clear view at about 10 yards distance, although the
bird was in the shade.  At about 4:35 or so it took off to the northeast,
flying to one of the tall snags by the east fence.  There were many Mourning
Doves in the area, becoming quite active in the late light.  
    I'm curious as to the precise winter status of this species in Santa Cruz
County.  The year lists on the Santa Cruz Bird Club web page show a record
for Jan. 1, 2000; but David Suddjian's "Santa Cruz Birds" column for that
period doesn't mention it.

Description:  
   A brownish-gray (more toward gray) dove, comparable in size to Mourning
   Dove, but bulkier.  The tail was relatively short (extending about 2 inches
   past the wingtips), and squared off rather than tapered.  There was a hint
   of narrow white edging on the distal part of the tail.  It once spread the
   tail, showing prominent white tips on at least most feathers; I didn't note
   whether this did or didn't extend all the way across.  In profile, the bird
   showed a prominent (about 1/4 inch high) lower border to the wing, extending
   below all the coverts and probably the tertials - like a long curved white
   stripe on the bird's side.  The primaries had narrow buffy tips/edgings; on
   one or two the outer edge (lower on the folded wing) appeared narrowly 
   white.  The primaries did appear darker than the coverts, but with the bird
   in shade I didn't see a great contrast.  There were no obvious dark markings
   on the wing (as a Mourning Dove might have).  It was difficult to assess
   the eye color in the shade, but I'm pretty much convinced I could make out
   darkish red.  The legs/feet were bright pink.  When it finally flew, it 
   showed the obvious white bar on the upperwings, angling from near the front
   edge to near the rear edge. 
								Al Eisner
								Feb. 2, 2002

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