allender@aramis.rutgers.edu (Eric Allender) (01/05/89)
My wife and I maintain a birdfeeder in our back yard, and we get quite a few nice birds -- but we also get some "junk" birds like house sparrows, starlings, and (yeuchhh) rock doves. Usually, I try to ignore the rock doves, but one recent visitor is really remarkable. He is fully 30% larger than the other pigeons, and his legs and feet are covered with fluffy, big, white feathers. He almost looks like he has leggings and snow shoes on! What is he??? Is he somebody's escaped exotic pet pigeon -- some sort of special breed? (I know that some people keep pigeons -- although it's always been beyond me why anybody would want to.) Is he a chimera which escaped from a nearby genetics lab? Is he the first New Jersey sighting of an Andalusian Cock Dove (probably blown across the sea by a hurricane)? Is he a mutant? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks. -- Eric Allender
mjm@oliven.olivetti.com (Michael Mammoser) (01/06/89)
In article <Jan.4.14.47.17.1989.20689@aramis.rutgers.edu>, allender@aramis.rutgers.edu (Eric Allender) writes: > > My wife and I maintain a birdfeeder in our back yard, and we get > quite a few nice birds -- but we also get some "junk" birds like > house sparrows, starlings, and (yeuchhh) rock doves. > > Usually, I try to ignore the rock doves, but one recent visitor is > really remarkable. He is fully 30% larger than the other pigeons, > and his legs and feet are covered with fluffy, big, white feathers. > He almost looks like he has leggings and snow shoes on! Although your description isn't very detailed, the feathered legs and feet make me think of a ptarmigan. Rock Ptarmigan is the species that may wander south in winter, but New Jersey seems like a long way to go and a backyard seems like a far cry from the high rocky slopes and barren tundra they usually inhabit; but then, you never know. Perhaps you could give us a more detailed description? Mike
dmark@cs.Buffalo.EDU (David Mark) (01/06/89)
In article <35594@oliveb.olivetti.com> mjm@oliven.olivetti.com (Michael Mammoser) writes: >In article <Jan.4.14.47.17.1989.20689@aramis.rutgers.edu>, allender@aramis.rutgers.edu (Eric Allender) writes: > > > > Usually, I try to ignore the rock doves [at feeder], but one recent visitor > > is really remarkable. He is fully 30% larger than the other pigeons, > > and his legs and feet are covered with fluffy, big, white feathers. > > He almost looks like he has leggings and snow shoes on! > > Although your description isn't very detailed, the feathered >legs and feet make me think of a ptarmigan. In another life, I used to keep and show pigeons. For a while I had a white Trumpeter, a large breed with large fans of feather *above* the toes. Many breeds developed for meat ('squabs') are much larger than wild-phenotypic birds; also, quite a few ornamental breeds have feathered legs and/or feet. If I recall correctly, the Trumpeter has a small pointed crest on the *back* (not top) of its head. A library book on show pigeons should clear up the ID. If it has a metal leg band, and you can read the club name and number, you'll be able to contact the owner if it has/had one. dmark@cs.buffalo.edu