weird looking dove in north Afghanistan? (1 Viewer)

Hi everyone,
This is probably just some weird variant of the typical laughing dove here, but does anyone know why this dove would be this deep brown color?

I haven't changed the coloring of the photo at all, and it's pretty true to what I saw in person. I've never seen one this color before.

Thanks!

There might be oil or smthng in the plumage. Breast feathers seem to be wet or in bad condition.
I think Laughing Dove is only possibility.

sandrinhalee said:

Hi everyone, This is probably just some weird variant of the typical laughing dove here, but does anyone know why this dove would be this deep brown color? I haven't changed the coloring of the photo at all, and it's pretty true to what I saw in person. I've never seen one this color before. Thanks!

Click to expand...

If birds wash in mineral-rich puddles, their plumage can take on the hue characteristic of that mineral 'soup', and it can take a long time for the hue to disappear, sometimes only after a moult (molt in the US!). This is analagous to my experience of getting splashes of 'red earth' on T-shirts and shorts in the heart of Australia, 300km NW of Alice Springs. After dozens of washes, the clothes were still stained! Probably a chemical reaction is also involved.

The only other possible candidate for the bird pictured is Spotted Dove Spilopelia chinensis (a congener), but it's mainly confined to east Afghanistan, only one record being known from the north. To be a Spotted Dove, the staining would have to be strong enough to obscure some ID features
MJB