[obol] Corvallis Collared-Dove sp. & Philomath mystery nesting bird

[Joel Geier]

Hello folks,

Thanks to Wayne Hoffman, Peggy Krause, Dennis Vroman, and Wayne Weber 
for posting their insights on the Corvallis Collared-Dove. This process 
has been very educational for me.

I hope other OBOLers at least did not mind the discussion of this ID 
problem. I fully agree with the suggestion that this problem will likely 
be purely academic in a few years, as the Eurasian Collared-Dove 
onslaught continues and swamps whatever reservoir of feral Ringed 
Turtle-Doves we have locally ("Africanized" or otherwise). I'm not 
convinced we've reached that point yet, based on my encounter with the 
Independence collared-dove sp. plus some serendipitous knowledge of the 
local informal pet trade.

I very much appreciate Wayne Hoffman's explanation of what points he 
considers to be reliable in this case. It seems to come down to plumage 
traits that might take a certain expertise to recognize. Scott Murray 
(who has spent thirteen years in Europe where the ID problem I raised 
comes up) has concurred with Wayne's assessment of the general plumage, 
noting that the color on the tail and rump is too light for an African 
Collared-Dove. This is a trait mentioned in my European references but 
again, it seems like something that could take a practised eye to evaluate.

I'm now fairly confident that the bird in question is a Eurasian 
Collared-Dove. We also had an Collared-Dove sp. sighting in Corvallis by 
Bill Proebsting in early May, less than two weeks prior and perhaps 
three miles distant from Peggy Krause's sighting, for which photos may 
be available.

On that nesting non-gnatcatcher south of Philomath, Arch MCallum's 
suggestion of a vireo is a good one. From the one somewhat blurry photo 
I have seen, Cassin's or Hutton's could work. The bill in the photo 
looks a bit too pointy for either, but on the other hand, the crown of 
the bird looked too compressed for a flycatcher.

The nest placement does fit Arch's description of Acadian Flycatcher 
nests to a tee, but a vireo definitely seems more likely. If the bird is 
in fact one of our regular small flycatchers, the nest may be worthy of 
a short note in Oregon Birds someday.

However, I would not rule out a vireo at this point. I am fairly 
confident that the bird is not a Turkey Vulture or a Great Blue Heron, 
or Sasquatch for that matter.

Good birding,
Joel

--
Joel Geier
jgeier at attglobal.net