Tag: Stevie Nicks

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The very first new to me bird that I saw while in Texas in April was the White-winged Dove. I’ve wanted to see one since I first heard Stevie Nicks sing On the Edge of Seventeen way back in the 80’s.

They are so much more colorful than I thought they’d be with their orange eyes, contrasting blue eye lore, and orange red legs and feet.

Fun Facts:

• In the Sonoran Desert, nesting White-winged Doves eat mostly the nectar, pollen, fruit, and seeds of the saguaro cactus. They’re so dependent on the saguaro they time their migration and nesting to match its fruiting schedule. Saguaro seeds are the only small seeds that a White-winged Dove will bother with—possibly because they sit in a large, cup-shaped fruit that makes them easy to eat.
• Like other doves and pigeons, White-winged Doves have some unusual abilities. They can suck and swallow water without moving their heads. And they use a secretion from the esophagus, known as crop milk, to feed nestlings. Both parents may consume snails and bone fragments to help their bodies create the nutritious fluid.
• Although the White-winged Dove is mostly resident in the Southwest, it is expanding its range, and individuals can be found far afield. White-winged Doves have been seen from Alaska to Ontario, Maine, Newfoundland, and most places in between.
• During the twentieth century, habitat loss and heavy hunting led to a serious drop in White-winged Dove populations in Texas—from as many as 12 million to fewer than 1 million by 1939. But with proactive management of hunting and the species’ ability to adapt to urban living, the population rebounded to some 2.2 million by 2001, and its range is still expanding.
• In the early 1980s, the singer Stevie Nicks introduced millions of Americans to the White-winged Dove with her song “Edge of Seventeen,” which hit #11 on the Billboard charts.
• The oldest White-winged Dove on record was at least 21 years and 9 months old. It was banded in Arizona in 1958 and recovered in Mexico in 1980.

I’m birding this morning so will be late reading your posts and comments.

Have a lovely week-end everyone!

more to come…