Lehigh Valley bird sightings for August 22

White-winged Dove (file photo)

This week's report of Lehigh Valley bird sightings has resulted in another species making its debut in our region.

A White-winged Dove was spotted on August 18 just north of Peace Valley Park in Bucks County, along Curly Hill Road in Plumstead Township, according to Dave DeReamus, of the Eastern PA Birdline.

The White-winged Dove is a bird of scrub and desert thickets throughout Texas and parts of the southwestern United States. Its white crescents on the wing and its white tail tip distinguish it from the Mourning Dove that is so common locally. The face of the White-winged Dove is more colorful, with bright orange eyes and a blue eye shadow. It also is larger-bodied than the Mourning Dove. 

Another difference is that it tends to be migratory, spending its winters in the Rio Grande Valley, Mexico and Central America. Sometimes it forms colonies covering several acres.

Note the orange eye and blue eye shadow (file photo)

Heavily hunted during the early 20th century, the population is rebounding. Lately the White-winged Dove has been making inroads beyond its normal range. The birds are becoming more common in Oklahoma, New Mexico, Arkansas and Kansas. It has been introduced in Florida.

The dove is becoming suburbanized, where the blandness of grassy lawns resembles its habitat in the Southwest. In its normal range, the White-winged Dove's main diet consists of the fruit of cacti and the seeds of the grasses and Saguaro cactus. It's also fond of cracked corn, which it consumes in farm fields and will take at backyard feeders.

The sighting in Bucks County was photographed, so there is proof of its appearance locally. Individual birds wander widely and irregularly once breeding season ends but it's surprising they are appearing this far north. There have been a handful of reports of White-winged Doves in Pennsylvania over the years, according to ebird.org, the international online bird reporting system. In 2012 a dove was spotted on Staten Island for the first time in 12 years. There even is a report of a White-winged Dove in Alaska.

Meanwhile, the Eastern PA Birdline, which is sponsored by the Lehigh Valley Audubon Society, reports other species for the week ended August 22. With many birders on vacation, this week's list is brief.

Bake Oven Knob, Lehigh County
Bald Eagle, 9 on August 15.
Also seen: Common Raven.

Leaser Lake, Lehigh County
Black-crowned Night-Heron, 3 from August 15 through at least August 17.

Haycock Mountain, Bucks County
(on State Game Lands No. 157)
Red-headed Woodpecker, 1 on August 15 through at least August 17.
Olive-sided Flycatcher, 1 on August 15 through at least August 17.

To report bird sightings to Dave DeReamus, send an e-mail to becard@rcn.com with the word "Birdline" in the subject heading.