True love is in the air....
On
the second day of Christmas my true love gave to me….two
Streptopelia turtur
It is very fitting that in this
traditional Christmas song that their true love is giving them
turtle doves, since pairs of turtle doves are a sign of love
around the world. Not only are turtle doves a sign of
love, they are pretty cool birds.
A mature
turtle dove has a blue grey head and neck with light brown wings
mottled with black. Its throat and sides of its
face are a light pink. It has
a distinctive
white and black patch on its
neck. It
is a pretty small bird that reaches about 24 cm (that’s
about 9.5 inches) in height
and had a wingspan between 47 cm and 53 cm (18.5 in to 21 in).
The European turtle dove
has been involved in some pretty serious events in world
history. To find out more about these
events and
about the turtle dove in general, like who its closest
relative is, search around on my site.
If you want to find more about other cool organisms go to
MultipleOrganisms.net. I promise there
are going to be some other pretty cool ones on there.
University of Wisconsin - La Crosse