Breeding Spotted turtle-doves

Spotted turtle-dove squeakers on their flimsy nest, almost ready to fledge, 13th November 2016. 

Spotted turtle-doves, Streptopelia chinensis are not known as the brightest birds in the flock.

For the last three weeks, Amanda's car has been getting covered in small twigs while parked in the carport.  We were wondering where in the heavens these sticks could possibly be blowing in from.  All was revealed when we caught a pair of Spotted turtle-doves in the act, trying to nest on top of one of the fluorescent lights in our carport.  The stupid birds kept putting twigs on top of the light, and a few moments later the twigs would blow off, landing on Amanda's car.  Instead of flying down and picking the twig up and trying again, the adults would diligently fly off, returning with another twig - for the same result.  This went on for three weeks before we couldn't stand it anymore and blocked the space on top of the light, thwarting their best efforts.

About two weeks ago we found a Spotted turtle-dove, Streptopelia chinensis nestling wandering alone in the backyard.  It was barely able to fly; clearly it had prematurely fallen from its nest.  Strangely there were no adult doves watching nearby, and we had not observed any nesting behaviour this spring in our back yard.  So I popped it in the tree near the feeding station, and went about my business.  It had disappeared fifteen minutes later.        

We have numerous adults of this feral species living in close proximity to Casa da Ayre, and they are a common sight around the back yard feeding station.  Fortunately the native Crested pigeons are still the most common species.  We are very happy to note that both species of dove breed in our backyard regularly.

On Sunday I was doing some maintenance in the backyard and found yet another Spotted turtle-dove nest, this time with two young squeakers doing their best to flatten themselves into the bottom of their shallow platform of sticks.  I took a quick photo, wished them well and went back about my business.