Date: 4/24/24 9:50 pm From: Nathan Pieplow <npieplow...> Subject: Re: [cobirds] Mystery dove song at Golden Ponds
Folks,
I do not believe the Longmont mystery bird is a White-tipped Dove. At least
it's not a typical one.
I probably spend 5-10 days in White-tipped Dove's range in an average year.
The candidate sound that people are hearing a resemblance to is what I call
the "Growl Song" of White-tippped Dove. This is much less common than the
regular song and apparently given in courtship situations. (Almost all
North American dove species have some kind of raspy, growling, or trilled
courtship song.)
Here are four examples of White-tipped Dove's Growl Song:
Note the distinctive rhythm of the Growl Song: *short-long,
short-short-short-long*, with every note trilled except the last two (the
second-to-last note is sometimes partly trilled). The last two notes
(short-long without a trill) resemble the species' regular song. Everything
pretty much happens on one pitch, except the long notes are lowest in the
middle.
It's important to note that *in every example of the White-tipped Dove
Growl Song, the rhythm never varies much*. This is universal among doves.
They don't learn their songs, which means their songs don't usually vary
much geographically or between individuals. We can expect all normal
White-tipped Doves to deliver the same Growl Song with more or less the
same rhythm and the same distribution of trilled and non-trilled notes,
just as all White-winged Doves sing "Who cooks for you?" in their Short
Song and "Who cooks for you, Julie? Who, Julie? Who?" in their Long Song.
The Longmont mystery bird does sound like a dove, and I can certainly hear
the resemblance to White-tipped in tone quality, but the rhythm and
distribution of trilled vs. non-trilled notes are way off. Part 1 of the
song appears to be a single long, overslurred trill that almost recalls a
screech-owl trill. Part 2 of the song seems to be a non-trilled 4-note
short-short-short-long pattern, each note higher than the last. Neither
song part lies within the bounds of White-tipped Dove variation. I can't
match it to any dove species I know. My best guess would be a hybrid or an
exotic of some type.
It's definitely a tremendously interesting recording. Kudos to Jamie Simo
for noticing that it was weird and getting audio documentation. People in
the area should keep their ears peeled in case this thing shows up again
and starts singing. I would LOVE to know what is making this song.
Nathan Pieplow
Boulder
On Wed, Apr 24, 2024 at 5:14 PM Diana Beatty <otowi33.33...> wrote:
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