COO-COO-COOO
(Named after a naturalist's wife, Zenaide Charlotte Bonaparte in 1838).
This bird is very much like the northern Mourning Dove. It is one of the most ubiquitous birds to be seen in Antigua.
There is no other common dove like it in the island. The local name is 'Turtle Dove'. The call is very similar to the Mourning Dove with its soft 'oo-ah! Coo-coo-coooo'. The male brings twigs to the female at the nesting site. Here she builds a rough platform where two pure white eggs are laid. After about two weeks the young are hatched and after another two weeks the juveniles fly from the nest. They may come back to roost, but soon they are entirely on their own in the great big world, the 108 square miles of Antigua.
Special thanks to the late Desmond Nicholson of the Museum of Antigua & Barbuda and Peter Duce for making this section of Antigua Nice Ltd possible! |
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