365Caws is now in its 14th year of publication, and was originally intended to end after 365 days. It has sometimes been difficult for me to find new material, particularly during the winter months, but now as I enter my own twilight years, I cannot guarantee that I will be able to provide daily posts. It is my hope that along the way I may have inspired someone to a greater curiosity about the natural world. If so, I can rest, content in the knowledge that my work here has been done.
Sunday, December 16, 2018
Coo-coo Birds
Day 64: The Coo-coo Birds are seldom brave enough to come into the yard proper, preferring to hang out on the power lines or scrabble in the driveway rocks for bugs. Today, however, a pair of them were cleaning up the spilled seed, "pair" in the sense of "mates" as opposed to "two birds." Mourning Doves are not uncommon here, but unlike their pigeon cousins, they aren't obnoxious. That said, as members of the clan, they're not exactly the sharpest crayons in the box either, although if they disappeared, I would miss their soft voices. Oddly, their mewing is very similar to the sweet-nothings I've heard exchanged sotto voce between courting ravens, but then, ravens and crows are capable of producing a much wider range of vocalizations. It's no wonder doves are a symbol of peace. They can only speak words of love.
Labels:
birding,
Mourning Dove,
yard,
Zenaida macroura
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