Hear a story about a white-winged dove.
Hear a white-winged dove.
from The Birds of Texas
by John L. Tveten
© TPWD, Photo by Glen Mills
White-winged dove
Accounts of early settlers in Texas state that from about l870 to 1920 there were several million white-winged doves in the lower Rio Grande Valley. However, wholesale clearing of the land destroyed most of the scrub woodlands used for nesting and, according to one source, hordes of hunters had contests to see who could kill the most birds. By 1930, the population had begun to decline.
With conversion of the native brushlands to farming, the doves moved to mature citrus groves and by 1950, 80 percent of the white wings were nesting in orange and grapefruit trees. Increasing crop diversity, periodic freezes that killed old groves, and saturation spraying with pesticides and herbicides subsequently took a heavy toll. Although the dove population will never again reach its former numbers, the white wing remains a popular game bird in South Texas and tracts of land are being purchased to serve as refuges for doves and other declining species.
The white-winged dove is a summer resident north to Uvalde, San Antonio and Beeville and ranges along the Rio Grande to El Paso and westward through the desert Southwest. It occasionally wanders onto the Edwards Plateau and along the upper coast; a small colony has become established in Galveston. Most white wings spend the winter far southward in Central America.
(Update: Over the past decade, white wings gradually have been expanding their range northward, primarily along Interstate 35. Large populations now exist in San Antonio and Austin and range expansion continues. White wings can now be found in some regions of East Texas and as far north as Amarillo and Dalhart.)
© TPW, Photo by Bill Reaves.
White-winged dove.
The heavy-bodied white wing can be distinguished from the mourning dove by the large white wing-patches and by its shorter rounded tail with broad white corners. The wing-patches, however, show only as narrow white lines on the folded wings of perching birds. There are several variations of the loud, low-pitched cooing calls. One of the most frequent is usually interpreted as Who-cooks-for-you?
White-winged doves nest singly or in colonies, building their crude stick nests in mesquite, citrus or other leafy trees. Farther west, they colonize the saguaro-paloverde desert scrub, and they move freely into towns. Both parents incubate the two white to pale buff eggs that hatch in two weeks, and both feed the hatchlings on pigeon's milk. Within four days the chicks also consume seeds, and they leave the nest at about two weeks of age. Grain and other seeds and the fruits of cacti then make up the major portion of the white wing's diet .
Another Common Dove in Texas - The Mourning Dove
Hear a mourning dove.
© TPWD, Photo by Bill Reaves.
Mourning dove.
The mourning dove is the most abundant and widespread dove in Texas and across the continent. It is the only native Texas bird that has been documented as occurring in every one of the state's 254 counties.
The mourning dove is the most widely hunted of all games birds across the country. They manage to maintain their population because they adapt to virtually every habitat and nest at least twice a year. Texas birds breed virtually year-round, with a peak season from March through September.
The mourning dove ranges from Canada to Panama and continues to expand northward, although the northern population is at least partially migratory. It inhabits farmyards, cultivated fields, prairies, open woodlands, deserts and suburban parks and yards.
The trim-bodied mourning dove has a small, round head and slender neck with blue rings around the eyes. Its long, pointed tail is edged with white and the overall plumage is a soft brown. Adults have black spots on the upper wings. It has a low and mournful call-ooah-coo-coo-coo.
Excerpts from The Birds of Texas by John L. Tveten with permission from Shearer Publishing, Inc.
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