Hi all,
Today my partner and I accidently flushed a large pigeon from a small leafy tree in Mornningside Park, Brisbane, in an area where the pale headed Rosellas normally feed. We only caught a quick glimpse of it as it flew away & perched (back facing us), then it flew one more time into a bigger, even leafier tree.
>From behind it looked almost completely slate grey or black, which faded into a more buff colour at the top of its head. Its wings made a distinctive sound when we flushed it; not quite as loud as a Crested pigeon’s `wing flap’, but still loud and distinctive.
Any ideas what this could be? From my bird guide, the possibilities seem to be either a Wonga pigeon, or a female white headed pigeon?
Thanks for your help! ===============================
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Comments
6 responses to “ID help- Wonga or White headed pigeon in Brisbane?”
I’ve seen plenty of Wongas in trees around Eden in SE NSW.
Tony
Hi Chris & Birding-ausers,
If you need proof that Wonga go into trees, have a look at this ancient piece of video:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3298468959838970791#
Tom
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Hi Peter & Chris,
Thanks, I really appreciate the info!
Chris, thanks for mentioning the possibility of it being a Top Knot pigeon. I have seen Top Knot pigeons in flight before, and my first gut instinct was that this might me one. But I didn’t know they were in Brisbane..thanks heaps for letting me know!
One reason I might be able to rule out the Wonga pigeon is it says in my Bird Guide that they have proportionally long tails. This one had a proportionally short tail, kind of straight at the end, and stubby (slightly fanned out in flight).
I hope I see it again. I would also love to get another tick! We have 66 different bird species in Morning side Park now, but I haven’t seen anything new for a long time. I forgot how exciting that can be!!
Cheers, Belinda
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I’ve only seen Wonga Pigeons around Bright, in Victoria. When flushed from the ground they often end up in a tree, and I’ve often seen them sitting in trees and on fences around the edge of town. These ones don’t flush easily, I suspect people feed them, so this might not be typical behaviour.
They do tend to face away from me when they land after flushing, like Belinda described, and I was under the impression that was typical Wonga behaviour, raising the tail and presenting the black and white vent as camouflage. (Did I read that in P&K?) Not sure if White-headed Pigeons do that too.
Peter Shute
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Hi Belinda,
I would say in suburban Brisbane that White-headed Pigeon is more likely, backed up by the fact your bird was in a tree (not sure I’ve ever seen a Wonga Pigeon off the ground, how about other birding-aussies?). Are you sure Topknot Pigeon is out of the question? It is also grey on the wings and back, and quite large. Topknots are less likely than White-headed in suburban Brisbane, but I do see them here occasionally.
Regards, Chris Sanderson
On Fri, Oct 15, 2010 at 11:35 AM, Belinda Cassidybirding-aus-request@vicnet.net.au ===============================
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