Locality: Coxcomb Hill, Astoria, Clatsop Co.
Dates: Sep 4,2003
Time of Day: between ~08:30
Reporting observers address:
Mike Patterson
1338 Kensington Av.
Astoria, OR 97103
Light conditions: overcast; light fog
Optical equipment: 8x42 Bushnell Binoculars
Distance from bird: less than 30 meters
Duration of observation: about 1 minute
Habitat: Coxcomb Hill is a large park situated on the southeastern edge of residential Astoria
Behavior: The bird appeared out of the fog made a turn and then flew past me.
It appeared to fly into a large stand of Douglas-fir (though it may have just continued flying east). I was not able to relocate it, even though I returned at 10:00 and spent an additional 30 minutes searching.
Description: My first impression was that I was seeing a Mourning Dove, but soon realized it had a squared off tail and white wing patches.
Overall color was a medium grey-brown (Mourning Dove colored). Very uniformly colored beneath.
Primaries from above were darker than coverts and separated by large white crescents
Tail was a bit darker than the back and showed a white terminal band.
Similar Species: No other North American dove species have white crescents in the wings. Abberant or genetically modified Rock Pigeons are usually a slate gray, white (when present) is usually not restricted to evenly shaped crescents on wings. Tail usually with a dark terminal band.
Previous experience: I have seen White-winged Doves in Arizona.
