A visitor appeared at our studio door in the Blue Mountains recently; a delightful, brown cuckoo dove. We know him quite well. During heavy rain, he likes to shelter here in the garage.
Hearing him outside the Studio door was a bit unexpected though.
My partner Rob was taking a little break from building work. He is a friend to all living creatures, especially birds, which they seem to understand. Mind you, they don’t all come knocking, like this one did. He said; ‘Could you please come out for a minute Mr Rob?
Honestly, how could anyone refuse such a polite request? The cuckoo dove is one of the sweetest, most inoffensive birds I know, rivalled only by the native Wonga pigeon. The name ‘cuckoo’ might suggest that they lay their eggs in other birds’ nests, but they definitely do not. They build their own, rather scrappy nests from twigs.
There was something on the dear dove’s mind;
Mind if I use you to perch on for a moment mate? I’m looking for someone.
At least it’s easier to see everything now that the leaves have fallen. By the way, you can appreciate the bird’s distinctive, long tail feathers as it sits on Rob.
We never feed birds at our place and I am yet to spot this one using the birdbaths. Let’s hope its trusting nature won’t cause it any harm.
Suddenly our visitor hopped from Rob’s hand to the balcony railing. Ooh, so that’s who he was looking for
There’s someone I’d like you to meet…..my partner! Isn’t she beautiful? We’re looking for a new nest site.
She certainly was a looker. A cuckoo dove has wonderful, grey-blue eyes.
The female has a brighter chestnut ‘cap’ than the male.
So with a bit of luck we might have a baby cuckoo dove this spring. We haven’t seen a pair for about fifteen years, so this is really exciting. The last time we thought we saw a chick it turned out to be a crumpled old leaf from a maple tree. The adult looked as confused as we were. 😍
The pair were back the next day at the same time, just on dusk. Not the best conditions for my little camera.
TO HEAR THE HAUNTNG ‘WHOOP-WHOOP’ CALL OF THE CUCKOO DOVE, CLICK HERE
Delightful story! Birds never cease to amaze.
Thanks Lyn.I agree, birds are just incredible.
Isn’t nature wonderful, and these cuckoo doves look and sound particularly interesting. Best wishes to you and Bird Man!