SOUTHEASTERN CARIBBEAN BIRDS PHOTO GALLERY

Trinidad and Tobago Field Naturalists' Club         Southeastern Caribbean Bird Alert         Trinidad and Tobago Rare Bird Committee

VIRGIN ISLANDS

Zenaida Dove (Zenaida aurita)

A                                                                   B

C                                                                                D

E

F

A partially leucistic individual paired with a slightly leucistic individual at Compass Point, St. Thomas, 18 May 2003. Photos © by Floyd Hayes. When first seen (photo A), the bird on the right was suspected to be a hybrid Zenaida Dove × White-winged Dove (Z. asiatica). Ten White-winged Doves were present in the area, where breeding is suspected. Subsequent photos reveal extensive white on the inner primaries and secondaries; in White-winged Dove, white is limited to the greater coverts and tips of secondaries. Note that the extent of white is fairly symmetrical on both the left (C and D) and right (B, E and F) sides. Also note the narrow line of white near the carpal joint (A-C). The more normal individual appeared to have excessive white on the tips of the secondaries on the right side only (A and F) and appeared normal on the left side (D-E). Both birds appeared to be moulting.

Another partially leucistic individual photographed only a few metres away at Compass Point, St. Thomas, 1 June 2003. Photos © by Floyd Hayes. Note the entirely white primaries and paler than normal upperparts