I had several Spotted Turtledove's in my Garden yesterday and at first I couldn't figure out why one looked different to the others, then I noticed it had no tail. It has it's spots so it's obviously not a juvenile, but I was wondering why no tail?
I kind of felt sorry for the little guy, but he didn't seem too worried about it.
I would imagine this would make it difficult for the bird to manoeuvre while in flight? What would cause his/her tail to be missing, any ideas?
I haven't seen the bird today.
I've also seen a Turtledove that seems to walk backwards in circles. Strange! None of the others seem to do it.
I sometimes see birds without a tail. Wrens can regrow their tail but I saw a rosella for years without a tail, didn't seem to bother it. I presume it due to attacks by predators, but that's just a guess.
I noticed this a few months ago on a little turtle dove that flew into our yard, I just assumed it was a juvenile and didn't think much of it as it didn't have it's "collar" yet, the reasoning I don't know but I'm pretty sure it's not an attack by a predator as it looks pretty much perfect (as in not only half the tail missing and no signs of wounds or previous wounds). I must admit I haven't seen them walking backwards in circles but they are always a delight to watch in our backyard when they come to have a little bath, drink or feed at the garden!
Thank you GregL and Amateur for your reply.
Well I had hoped it hadn't been attacked, he seemed to be fine, acted like any other of his own kind.
As for the Turtledove walking backwards in a circle, I just read an article on the internet that suggests it may be a neurological disease called PMV and highly contagious to other doves and pigeons. It can be transmitted through dirty water, feeding young, and/or droppings. I have only seen the bird once and when I was watching it, at first I thought it had walked through a spider web, walking backwards to get rid of it, then it stopped and acted normal. Five minutes later it started doing it again. Looked really odd.