Pair of Spotted Doves (Streptopelia chinensis)

Spotted Dove (Streptopelia chinensis)

Spotted Doves (Streptopelia chinensis)
Location: Kohala Coast, Big Island, Hawaii

These Spotted Doves are daily visitors to my garden, but getting a good photo of them has been difficult.   They are quite shy, so if they see me moving about, they immediately fly away.  Sitting quietly in one spot does not help much, either, because when they do land, they often hunker into a bush, where they are obscured.  When they alight on a tree branch or other open perch, they remain just for a moment, rarely staying still long enough for me to focus the camera lens.

I finally managed to capture this image of not one, but two at once, when this pair perched on the nearly bare branch of one of our Royal Poinciana trees.   The birds are not as well lit as I would have liked, but I felt a small sense of victory at having been able to photograph them at all!

In case you missed it, here is a photo I took last Spring of a Spotted Dove coming in for a landing.

7 comments:

Becky said...

These doves are so beautiful. They look somewhat like our Mourning doves except yours have a beaded neck piece..
B.

Unknown said...

You got those lovely doves in a beautiful pose. WOW

kml said...

Bobbie - it looks like one of them has a heart on it breast. Might be just my computer screen - or my eyes that are in a sorry state. So beautiful!

BNS said...

@ Becky - These guys are a little bigger than your Mourning doves, I think. In fact they are at least as big as a pigeon -- maybe 12 inches. Some people call this bird the Lace-Necked Dove.

@ T and S - Thanks. I agree, it is a nice pose.

@ Kathy - I think I see what you mean, but I think it's just a patch of feathers that are a little fluffed out.

Bobbie

Anonymous said...

Awwwww. Great shot. They look like a happy couple.

zzlaloq said...

so nice to see the spotted dove at hawaii, wouldnt know if not stubbled here..

BNS said...

Hello zzlaloq - Thank you for visiting. Yes, we have several species of dove here in Hawaii. All are introduced species.

Bobbie