By Jim Burns

A)  Good Photo, Easy Bird

The most salient feature on our first quiz bird is the striking white collar.  If we could start all over again and redo all our bird's common names, this would have to be a Collared Dove.  But this is a white-collar bird, a "desirable" bird if you will, and the Eurasian Collared-Dove now sweeping our country has a black collar which somehow befits the dirty work it may be doing to our native species and their habitats.

Our quiz bird does share one field mark with Eurasian Collared- Dove-dark primaries contrasting with paler wing coverts-but the similarities end there.  This bird is much darker overall, appears to have a patch of iridescence below its collar, and has an outstanding two-toned bill.  Without the collar and that bill it might pass for a Feral Pigeon, but Rock Dove, variegated as they are, never have a complete and obvious collar and will show a white cere (bare skin covering the base of the upper mandible).

Of course we'd like to redo all those common names because we haven't quite reconciled with the fact that the physical trait for which many species are named is not very evident, either in the field or in good photographs.  Check out the tail area of our quiz bird, above the fly and just to the right of the wing tips.  That is neither shadow nor dirt, but the edge of the dark feathering which covers the entire upper half of the tail and contrast with the light band which is all we're seeing at the tail's tip.  The banded aspect of the tail is most noticeable when this bird is in flight.

This Band-tailed Pigeon was photographed at Comfort Springs in the Huachuca Mountains in June, 1996, but Band-taileds can be found in the pine/oak habitat atop Mt. Ord in extreme northeast Maricopa County.  They are the larges member of our dove family, swift of flight, handsome, and typically very shy.  When you see band-taileds, you'll know you've escaped the city.  "Wow, that's a cool bird."

B) Good Photo, Difficult Bird

Here's a pale dove with a black collar.  From our discussion this far this would seem like an easy bird identification, but if you've been following the Eurasian Collared-Dove's march across America in the literature and on the internet you know there is one problem.  Eurasian Collared-Dove is very similar in size and appearance to Ringed Turtle-Dove, a bird of the same genus domesticated in Africa and brought to this country as a cage bird. 

The latter species has been escaping its cages and living in the "wild" in southern California and south Florida since early in the twentieth century, but for reasons not fully understood the Ringed Turtle-Dove population have never exploded like that of the Eurasian Collared-Dove.  Ringed Turtle-Dove has, in fact, recently declined in most areas, particularly south Florida where it may be losing habitat to its spectacularly more successful congener.

Though the Eurasian Collared-Dove is typically a plumper, darker bird than the delicate and very pale Ringed Turtle-Dove, this is largely indiscernible without the birds side by side, and there is some variation in color in both species.  There are, however, three defining differences, two of them visible on our second quiz bird.  First, though the sun-light is dappled, there appears to be no great contrast between the color of the primaries and the rest of this bird's wing and back,  Secondly, this bird's undertail coverts are white, lighter than the rest of this bird's pale plumage.

Comparing these two features with those of our final quiz birds, the differences are noticeable.  In our third photo we see decidedly darker primaries which greatly contrast with the rest of the bird's dorsal plumage, and gray undertail coverts which are decidedly darker than the rest of the bird's ventral plumage.  the non-contrasting primaries and white undertail coverts of our second bird add to the overall delicate jizz of this Ringed Turtle-Dove, on of a pair found by Laurie Nessel at the Goldfield Recreation Area along the Salt River in November, 2001 and photographed there later that month.

We observed a pair of these beautiful doves in metro Phoenix as long ago as 1980 near the Papago Buttes,  and we have occasionally seen pairs more recently along the Scottsdale Greenbelt, but because their population has not expanded and they are no longer "countable," Phoenix birders seem unaware of their presence or maybe they just don't car.  "I ain't looking for no stinking exotics."

C) Bad Photo, Easy Bird

If I could only photograph birds on wires from below, I'd rather drive a truck.  Shooting up distorts perspective, underexposes the ventral features or overexposed the dorsal features, and renders sharp focus along the entire length of the bird difficult to achieve.  That said, at least this scenario allowed the presentation here of the third and best diagnostic feature of Eurasian Collared-Dove.  Notice that the outer webbing of the undertail is dark on this bird.  Unfortunately I was not able to photograph the Goldfield Ringed Turtle-Doves from below to show the all white outer tail characteristic of that species.

This Eurasian Collared-Dove was photographed in May, 2001.  It is one of the birds discovered by Paul Lehman in Palo Verde, Arizona, west of Phoenix.  This was either the second or third sighting in the state, but there have been several since then and you can be sure in a few years no one is going to have to look very hard to find these birds.  Nor will they want to.  "Damn, we're being invaded again."

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ARIZONA'S SPECIAL SPECIES - BROAD-BILLED HUMMINGBIRD

By  Jim Burns

  There are nine hummingbirds that may be considered Arizona special species, species found only here or more easily here than in any other state.  The real gem amongst them is Cynanthus latirostris, our Broad-billed, yet this species is often taken for granted or overlooked because it is not uncommon (Violet-crowned)), not hard to find (Lucifer), and not structurally unique (Costa’s).  It is simply stunningly beautiful.

The rather pedestrian common name, Broad-billed, is derived from the species name, latirostris, which literally translates from the Latin as “wide beak.”  It has been suggested that the wonderful black tipped red bill is relatively broad at its base to facilitate the capture of insects which make up a larger proportion of the Broad-billed’s diet than that of most other hummingbirds.

Broad-billeds, like many of our state’s special species, reach the northern limits of their breeding range in southern Arizona, migrating south into Mexico for the winter where the species is resident year round from sea level to over 7,000 feet.  In Arizona they nest in desert washes, foothill riparian, and lower mountain canyons to just over 5,000 feet.  Nesting has also been recorded in southwestern New Mexico and in Big Bend and the Davis Mountains of west Texas.  Two new distribution trends have come to light in recent years:  Broad-billeds are now being banded in fall and winter on the Gulf Coast, and some now overwinter in the Tucson and Nogales suburbs around residential nectar feeders.

Favored natural nectar sources are ocotillo, chuparosa, paintbrush, and tree tobacco, and Broad-billeds will take insects as large as spiders and wasps.  Nests are built by females, often in sycamore or mesquite, 4 to 7 feet off the ground on small branches.  Grasses, plant down, and bits of bark are the common materials but, unlike other hummers, Broad-billeds do not use lichens on the exterior of their nests.  Two white eggs are laid, and two broods are raised each year.

In Arizona Broad-billeds can be found from April through August in the creekbeds and washes of our southern mountains, from the Huachucas west to the 

In a family of birds known for its aggressiveness, Broad-billeds are among the least combative species.  They are characterized by nearly habitual wagging of the frequently fanned tail, steel blue and notched on the males which have the inner rectrices tipped with gray, steel blue and rounded on the females which have the outer rectrices tipped with white.

No discussion of Broad-billed Hummingbird is complete without a cautionary note regarding the visual similarity between juveniles and females of this species and those of the White-eared Hummingbird.  Both species have black-tipped red bills and a white postocular (behind the eye) stripe, and undoubtedly many overzealous birders have ticked White-eared on their lists after seeing young Broad-billeds, particularly in the Huachuca canyons where wandering, post-breeding juveniles may be the only Broad-billeds and White-eared is an eagerly sought rarity.  The White-eared is a smaller, plumper hummer with a short, straight bill.  The Broad-billed is longer and leaner with a longer, decurved bill.  White-eared, as its common name implies, has a wide, striking, and very obvious white postocular stripe, while that of juvenile and adult female Broad-billeds is thin, dirty white, and often indistinct.

But make no mistake.  You haven’t seen a Broad-billed until you’ve seen an adult male in full sunlight--iridescent blue gorget on shimmering emerald body.  Indeed, this jewel is closely related to the Emeralds of Mexico and its common name could have more imaginatively been taken from its genus name, Cynanthus, which literally translates from the Greek as “bright blue.”  When you find your sunlit male, walk slowly around it and watch the colors change with the angle of light.  Watch the blues and greens suffuse and merge and throw off glints of gold.  This is a breathtaking light show which no other hummingbird in Arizona can produce.

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This Broad-billed male was photographed along the Continental Wash below Madera Canyon in April, 2001

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