There is a magical bar in Tieba - Bird Bar, which is a gathering place for a group of bird lovers, and everyone usually exchanges some bird watching experiences in it. However, at the turn of spring and summer, there are always many ridiculous discussion posts on the front page of Bird Bar:
Is this a pigeon? Why do you want to build a nest on the air conditioner outside my home...
There is a bird on the windowsill, and this nest is really ridiculous!
What bird is this? It was a big egg in a flower pot...
Without clicking on the post, the author can also guess that the bird that can do this stupid thing can only be it: the bead-necked dove!
Image source: Wikipedia
This kind of bird, which is not very smart at a glance, with a silly energy, has been loved by many bird watching enthusiasts, because it is usually "grunting", so people send nicknames - "silly cuckoo"!
Silly and cute
The stupidity of the bead-necked dove first comes from its slightly joyful appearance, especially the pair of small eyes. Against the background of the rounded body, the eyes of the bead-necked dove dove dove do not appear large, plus the iris color is relatively light, mostly orange or orange-yellow, and some are pink, resulting in a very obvious gap between the pupil and the eyeball, this face is called "four white eyes", giving people the feeling of being stupid.
Image credit: Macaulay Library
Not only are they stupid, but there are also many bird-like behaviors of bead-necked doves.
Flying well, suddenly a turn, the result of hitting the glass window, billboard is not nothing, a few fools even directly hit the pedestrians, leaving only the hit netizens in the same place to doubt life.
Image source: Baidu Tieba Bar
And the bead-necked dove also inherits the fine tradition of "not being afraid of people" in the pigeon family. When birds such as sparrows in the city are foraging for food, as soon as they see someone approaching, they will immediately flap their wings and run, while the bead-necked dove will often be like a silly roe deer, first twisting its neck to see what the person wants to do, and if the action is not big, it will bury its head and continue to eat. In a domestic study, the tolerance to human interference shown by the bead-necked dove is comparable to that of an iron-headed crow such as a magpie, which is really admirable.
The stupid things that the bead-necked doves have done are not limited to this, and their "superb skill" of building bird's nests is also a must. As the leading "master of pendulum rot" among birds, the nest of the bead-necked dove is said to be a bit lifted by the rotten tail building, basically as long as it can be seen that it is the shape of a nest, even if it is a mansion.
Because most of the time, the nest of the bead-necked dove looks like this...
Image source: Weibo @Huamei Bird of Paradise
And something like this...
Image source: Weibo @Huamei Bird of Paradise
Individual doves will also "open eggs" directly in people's flower pots... These nests are not to mention sheltering them from the wind and rain, just looking at them sitting on the branches makes you feel panicked.
Image source: Wikipedia
But such a stupid bird that everyone laughs at as "surviving by luck" is a typical bird adapted to human society and is one of the best birds in the city. So don't underestimate the bead-necked doves, their small eyes may contain some great wisdom
Wild pigeon with a pearl bib
Before delving into the "great wisdom" of the bead-necked dove, we still have to have a deeper understanding of this bird.
As an urban bird that is extremely common in the southern part of the continent, the pearl-necked dove is often called "wild pigeon". It is no wonder that silly goo and domestic pigeons are indeed related, and they both belong to the same pigeon order, doves, and there are many similarities in terms of body size and living habits.
But a "wild" word also means that the bead-necked dove is still different.
The most significant difference between the bead-necked dove is that it can be seen from its name - "bead-necked". This gray-looking bird is generally about 30 cm long, similar in size to a pigeon, and it is indeed a bit silly to distinguish from a distance. But a little closer, you can see that this little guy is quite recognizable, and the sides of its neck are densely covered with white spots, as if draped with a bib woven of pearls, and the bird lives up to its name.
It is worth mentioning that this "pearl bib" is only available to adult doves, which is one of the signs of silly gollum from green to mature.
Image credit: Macaulay Library
Another big difference in the bead-necked dove is its habit of moving on the ground. Unlike domestic pigeons, which undertook the task of delivering letters in ancient times, the bead-necked dove was very weak in its ability to fly. Relevant studies have shown that the average flight altitude of the bead-necked dove is only 5.8 meters, the highest is only 12.2 meters, and the flight time is not long,000, which is a complete "walking chicken".
This also explains why the bead-necked dove likes to forage for food in small steps on the park lawn, and when it sees people coming, it doesn't fly away immediately, people are just really not good at flying...
Bead-necked dove foraging on the ground Image source: Macaulay Library
In addition to the domestic pigeon, there are fire doves and mountain doves, which are very common urban birds in China. The two guys looked more alike and were often confused.
The mountain dove is similar in size to the bead-necked dove, the difference is that the wings are very obvious scaly orange lines, so it is also called "tiger striped dove"; The Fire Spotted Dove, on the other hand, is significantly smaller, and the most notable feature is the half-circle of black collars on the back of its neck.
Mountain Dove (left) and Fire Dove (right) Image credit: Wikipedia
When you see "wild pigeons" looking for grass seeds on the lawn of the community in the future, don't call them by the wrong name!
Silly goo's foothold
With the continuous advancement of urbanization, forests, grasslands, rivers, lakes, which originally belonged to the living space of wild animals, are gradually being occupied by humans. Many birds are not very tolerant of life in the steel and concrete jungle, but the pearl-necked dove is an exception, it adapts well to human society and lives quite moistly.
How did this silly-looking bird, which wasn't very good at flying, do it? To sum up, it is - go with the flow.
First of all, in terms of feeding habits, the bead-necked dove, as a pure plant (hybrid) bird, is not picky at all. From the seeds of crops such as rice, corn and wheat, to the seeds of camphor trees, neem trees, and roses, which are commonly greened trees in cities, and even mollusks such as maggots, snails, and insects, there is no one it does not eat, and in some areas, it has even been observed that the pearl-necked dove steals cat food and dog food. Such a casual eating habit makes the food source of the bead-necked dove in the city relatively abundant, and it is little affected by seasonality.
And the digestion ability of the bead-necked dove is also quite good, and it can absorb food nutrients very well. Domestic related studies have shown that the sinus epithelial cells, mast cells and silver-loving cells in the gastric compound duct gland of the bead-necked dove gland jointly create a powerful digestive system, which can not only regulate the digestion and absorption of nutrients by the gastric glands, but also build a relatively complete mucosal protective barrier for resistance to stress and pathogenic microorganisms, so that it can cope with the digestion of various foods.
A bead-necked dove eats something suspected of dog food Image source: Macaulay Library
What is even more valuable is that feeding young birds is also relatively easy for adult bead-necked doves. Inheriting the typical "pigeon milk" brooding habit of the pigeon order, the baby bird of the bead-necked dove is just hatched for a few days, and the parent bird's bursa gland secretes a protein-rich substance to feed it. When the dove grows slightly, the parent bird directly breaks down the food into semi-digested plant chymes and feeds it. Compared to birds that need to breed their chicks with bugs, it is much easier to feed the young birds and can be raised smoothly even when the bugs are dormant.
In addition to being very edible, Silly Gollum is also a good hand at reproduction.
The bead-necked dove is in heat almost all year round. From the following statistical chart, it is not difficult to see that April to August of each year is the peak breeding period of the bead-necked dove, which explains why whenever the spring and summer alternate, Tieba will always emerge a large number of discussion posts about the nesting of the bead-necked dove ~ Even in the autumn and winter in some areas, the male dove's courtship call can often be heard.
The annual cycle of breeding of the bead-necked dove Image source: Macaulay Library
Interestingly, when the male spotted dove is courting, he will nod and bow next to the female, and he will make a flattering sound in his mouth, which is extremely demonic...
Two fools are undoubtedly picture source: network
And stupid gollum nesting on people's window sills, flower pots and other places is the most "big wisdom" operation. On the one hand, although the nest is a bit unrefined, it makes full use of the favorable terrain around it to shield the wind and rain, and the nesting period is shortened, and it can be laid as soon as possible, which greatly improves the breeding efficiency; In addition, the pearl-necked dove breeds in the human environment, which can effectively avoid the invasion of natural enemies such as kestrels with the help of human protection, and the survival rate of young birds is greatly improved, which is the so-called "starving to death of the timid, supporting the brave".
And most of the netizens who are occupied by the bead-necked dove on the balcony are still very conniving with this guy, and they will feed it something to eat from time to time, which is very loving!
Today, the pearl-necked dove, which was originally only common in the southern region, has begun to appear in northeast China such as Changchun, Jilin in recent years, and its ability to adapt to the urban environment is admirable. Such a powerful grunt, do you still think it is stupid?
Leave a kindness to the fools
As the fields receded and the tall buildings rose, our city was no longer the promised land where birds could soar, but the bead-necked doves never left us, which was a kind of beauty in this steel and cement jungle.
So please be kind to these lovely creatures, don't disturb their reproduction, and if you have the ability, you can also provide them with a shelter from the wind and rain. Maybe one day, you'll be pleasantly surprised to find a pair of bead-necked dove neighbors on the balcony, staring at the room with round eyes. And, of course, their "wretched" nests.
Author: Ivan
Resources:
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Zhong Shengwei,Li Jing,Song Wei,Liu Jia,Xie Ruoyi,Yu Pengcheng,Zhou Zuohong,Zhang Hui. Microstructure and histochemistry of the gastric compound duct glands of the bead-necked dove. Journal of Anhui Agricultural University. 2018,45(02)
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