Collared dove

This collared dove is keeping an eye out behind him. And well he might. There is a sparrowhawk pair who haunt this neighbourhood that have taken down magpies in the past, so they would have little trouble with this guy. He's terribly conspicuous. Barring the magpies this bird is the most visible avian target for miles. He just doesn't blend in anywhere, and he's big, and he's noisy. And yet they are doing so well. Before the 1950s there were no resident collared doves at all in the United Kingdom and now they are widespread, even ubiquitous. A trio of these birds are often seen together over the last couple of months around our house; two adults and a juvenile. The adults sometimes still feed the smaller bird. Debbie commented that they start courting by Valentines Day but these two couldn't wait. Really though this juvenile was probably one of the last chicks born last year as their breeding season extends right into October.