Goulburn Broken CMA project officer Janice Mentiplay-Smith said the peaceful dove’s rolling, melodic ‘doodle-doo’ call was a characteristic sound of the Goulburn Broken catchment’s agricultural regions and woodlands.
“As a seed eater, the peaceful dove is never too far from the water it needs to process and digest its dry diet,” Ms Mentiplay-Smith said.
“An intact ground-layer with a native plant understorey of seed-producing native grasses and low herbaceous plants is this bird’s happy place.
“Similar in size to the diamond dove (Geopelia cuneata), the peaceful dove is identifiable by the blue skin around its eyes and top of the beak and dark barring across its neck and upper chest.”
As with all pigeons, both parents produce ‘crop milk’, a milky substance regurgitated from the ‘crop’, an enlarged part of the oesophagus, to feed their chicks. Crop milk, also known as ‘pigeon milk’, is produced by both sexes of all pigeon species.
As well as the Goulburn Broken catchment, the peaceful dove inhabits parts of Asia including South Burma and the Malay Peninsula, Indochina and eastern New Guinea.
To continue to learn about and help our local native birds and bats beyond this year, Ms Mentiplay-Smith encourages becoming a citizen scientist.
“Submitting your birding records is one of the most important things you can do to help woodland birds,” she said.
“Every record is important as it can influence where funds are allocated and how conservation projects and land management programs are developed.”
e-Bird Australia enables the collection of field observations and data via a real-time online checklist program: https://ebird.org/australia/home
Birdata is BirdLife Australia’s living, growing database. By collating data submitted by citizen scientists it directly contributes to the preservation of Australia’s birds: https://birdata.birdlife.org.au
Birds in Backyards is BirdLife Australia’s citizen science research, education and conservation program focusing on the ‘common’ urban birds: https://www.birdsinbackyards.net/
For bat events, go to: https://www.ausbats.org.au/bat-nights.html and www.ausbats.org.au and https://riverconnect.com.au/about-the-riverconnect-area/upcoming-events
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