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Probable White-winged Dove in Person Co., NC



Birders,

I wanted to mention a couple of interesting finds on my national Breeding
Bird Survey (BBS) route I ran last Sunday (8 June 2003).  The route starts
at Hyco Lake in NW Person Co., NC and runs south weaving in and out of
Caswell Co. and ending up in northern Orange Co., north of Hillsborough.

The most interesting "find" of the morning was at a stop along Gordonton
Rd. ca. 2.3 miles south of Hwy 158.  At this stop I got out of the car,
started the timer, and almost immediately heard the distinctive call of a
WHITE-WINGED DOVE.  It was a series of four "hoo"s with the first two
close together, then the third, then a drawn out fourth, in a very clear
pattern of the classic "who cooks for you".  The vocalizations were very
"dovelike" and were not made by a Barred Owl, nor were they the correct
pattern of a Eurasian Collared Dove nor a Mourning Dove.  The habitat was
rural rolling fields with patches of woods, and no buildings were in
sight.

While I've heard White-winged Doves vocalize many times in the southwest,
I never was able to visually locate individual, which would be desirable
for a bird this rare.  As far as I know (and according to a check on my
Avendex software), there are no records for this species away from the
coast in NC, much less during the breeding season.  If anybody is up that
way, keep an eye and an ear out!

Also of interest during the survey was a calling BROAD-WINGED HAWK,
obligingly perched atop a tree right next to the road.  This bird was in
Northern Orange Co. along Wilkerson Rd. about 1.5 miles south of the
Person Co. line.  This was a life look for Toni Rexrode, who was
accompanying me on the route, doing a great job keeping tally marks of the
species noted and coordinating directions and stop descriptions.

Good birding,

Jeff


^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Jeffrey S. Pippen
Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences
Rm 139 Biological Sciences Bldg, Biology Department Box 90338
Duke University, Durham, NC  27708
PH: (919) 660-7278			<jspippen@duke.edu>
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^