Feathered Friday - Doves and others

Here's some desert bird photos for this #featheredfriday by @melinda010100

Here's a cactus wren I caught in Arizona one winter. You can see the Christmas lights are up but it seems like spring outside, gotta love Arizona in the winter. Many birds like to visit during the winter since it is warm there.

Here's a white winged dove walking on some rusty metal. They are about the same size as a mourning dove but they have slightly different markings and nice colorful eyeliner. Then of course there is the white edge on their wings.

Here's an example of a mourning dove, no white wing and very minimal eyeliner. Though from a distance they look basically the same as a white winged dove.

Another mourning dove I caught in Illinois. White winged doves tend to range in the southwest more. Mourning doves are all over North America.

Here's a different character a Eurasian Collard Dove, this guy is slightly larger than the previous two doves and is not a native to North America. They are easy to recognize because of their collar. Since they are listed as an invasive species in North America dove hunters have no set limits on hunting them. As a former dove hunter I can say they taste no different than other doves, also they are really easy to find as their population has exploded in North America. I used to marinade then in lemon and spices then slow cook them with a bit of red wine and vinegar. Doves tend to be tough so adding something fatty like olive oil or even wrapping them with bacon helps soften them up.

Now for a cute little Anna's hummingbird. This one was kind enough to stay put for a shot.

Now for a bonus plump squirrel. Happy #featheredfriday

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