Thursday Birding

This is what greets me in the morning right now, although as they are peeking out at me over the windowledge, soon the chicks will be flying off. This picture was from the Colorado State site, and although you will see less than the whole bird in this picture, it is the sweetness that it shows that I thought you'd appreciate.

The coo-oo cooo of the call is one of the nicest sounds you will hear in the evening, and if you could hear the babytalk coo-oo cooo of the chicks, you would love it.

The birds are presently in the stage of skittering after each other and are pretty vulnerable as they are not paying any attention to such minutiae as cars and dogs and suchlike.

Cool fact: Mourning Doves feed their nestlings crop milk or "pigeon milk," which is secreted by the crop lining. This is an extremely nutritious food with more protein and fat than is found in either cow or human milk. Crop milk, which is regurgitated by both adults, is the exclusive food of hatchlings for three days, after which it is gradually replaced by a diet of seeds.

This from the same fellas who are looking for the orange-breasted falcon, http://www.birds.cornell.edu, and if you want more pictures of the mourning dove, and whole body shots, please do go to their site.