doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Eurasian Doves Do you have em in your state?

Interesting that some are describing the bird as very acrobatic and fast and others not so much. My experience with them is they are relatively easy to hit compared to Mourning Doves. Their flight tends to be much straighter and level with slower wing beats. First ones I took, and many since, have been doubles. I understand they have multiple broods each year, as many as 6 to 8 in some areas, which is how they colonize areas. I fear they will be come a major blight for agriculture. One other trait we have observed is they seem to arrive later in the morning than the other doves here. Has anyone else noted this late arrival in your area?

My observation around Yuma is that the Euros start a bit later in the morning than do the mourning doves, but keep moving until a bit later in the day. The latest starters are the whitewings, often as much as an hour+ after the mourning doves.

Near subject ramble, not an argument, thanks .. based on my experiences, the Eurasian dove that we see tend to be larger than the white wings when both are in hand. They have a distinct silvery colour to them w/a pinkish blush close to what is seen on a morning dove. Perhaps we are seeing & taking immature white wings, I dunno. I have not noticed any white wings with fat on them when breasted, but many of the Eurasians will have some, so perhaps they are feeding better? Both are 'in town' birds. I have mourning dove, white wings, white-tipped & inter-bred collared dove that visit the feeders at the house. We put out a few hundred pounds of feed per annum at the house, the squirrels, possums & raccoons seem to get at least half of it. I only see the occasional feral pigeon or Eurasian in the back yard & they seem to be coming in to water on a small decorative ground level pond w/a fountain, rather than to feed. I used to frequently shoot white wings in Mexico years ago, but I never had a Eurasian in hand at that time to compare those birds with. Many of the mourning dove we've taken so far this year are immature or this year's birds. Here, there are also white-tipped dove & they seem to be smaller than a white wing, but a bit larger than a mourning dove. We mostly hunt dove in the afternoons, leaving the birds alone to pursue their morning routines undisturbed. In strong winds any of them can do some interesting and elusive antics & birds shot at previously can 'jink in a blink' and beat you & that includes feral pigeons. The pigeons or "paloma grande's" in South America are as wary as any bird out there. They don't appear to be going all that fast, but you'd best double whatever your brain is telling you about lead if you wish to hit one.

FWIW, I never saw a white wing north of the Texas valley until the early 70's and then I saw one in San Antonio around 1972. That was about the time that some of the drag chaining & root plowing began on the south side of the Rio Grand. Today, most of the scrub in that part of Mexico is long gone and producing vegetable crops w/irrigation. I don't know how far north the white wings have migrated, but they are present in the Texas panhandle today.

I don't recall the first time I began to see the Eurasian's out & about in W. Texas, but it has been at least six or more years ago. I've had some smaller grey colored ring-necked dove here in town since the mid seventies & they interbreed with the morning dove.

I don't know about the Utah Euros, but take a look at the pic below. All were shot last Monday near Yuma, with .410 skeet loads, pass shooting over open ground. The two front rows are Euros, The back row is mournings on the left and a few whitewings on the right. Significant size advantage to the Euros. There were seven guys on that shoot, so multiply that sample size by about seven. The biggest whitewing of the day was about the same size as the smallest Euro.

The Eurasian birds look at least twice as big as the Mourning doves I shoot. My recollection of Whitewings from my Mexico shooting days is that they were about a Mourning dove and a half.

Even breasted, the Whitewing's breasts are 1 1/2 times the size of Mourners. However, the Eurasian birds I shoot end up having breasts a little longer but not really any bigger at all than the Mourning dove. The size difference all seems to be wingspread and tail to me.

Would anyone happen to have a photo similar to the one Replacement posted above of the breasted doves divided by species?...Geo

We have them in north Florida. I first started seeing them along the gulf coast and around twenty years ago I began seeing more of them inland.

With reference to size, I have both adult white wings and Eurasian doves coming to the feeder in the yard. I believe the Eurasians are a little larger which is confirmed by the pecking order. The White Wings yield to the Eurasians despite putting up some pretty good resistance at times. Perhaps there is little actual difference in size but these Eurasians appear a little larger.