birdquestion
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Hello Dear Ones
Two nights ago, about 930pm, went out into backyard to enjoy the perfect night air. Was sitting in a chair on the back porch and heard an unusual noise over under the trees near the fence line. It sounded like heavy rustling that gave a bit of pause. I sit outside regularly and had never heard this sound.
Javelina came to mind due to the kind of "weight" of the rustling and the fact that we periodically see them, not often, in the front yard.(Campbell/Fort Lowell area) I moved closer to the door to hop inside as needed. There is no light in that part of the yard and I did not feel moved to shine a flashlight on it. I heard a kind of low throat sound that to me indicated javelina again. Although there is not a particular opening into the backyard. A loose gate on the fence, but not that opens widely. It did not sound like a cat or dog (or "feel" like one, if you will.)
I decided to just go in and shrug at the moment. In the morning, it was in my brain so I went over to the area. And lo! Discovered what you see in the pictures. I am very accustomed to seeing feather piles of doves over the years, I think are from hawk kills/feedings. This pile of feathers looks like none I have ever seen. ALL of the feathers are COMPLETELY WHITE. I know the downy little ones are with the doves, but there were ZERO recognizable longer feathers. The longer feathers are also COMPLETELY WHITE and very long compared to the usual dove ones. There was no COLOR of any kind in any of the feathers.
Brain said what kind of bird could this be? I am a native Tucsonan and have never seen a large purely white bird at all. I wondered if it may have been an escaped pet bird of someone. Then the thought of a duck came to mind as I looked at the longer white feathers, but that doesn't seem possible. An owl, but owls are not pure white. Thought I would post the pics here and see if anyone has any idea what this pure white bird could be. Literally, not ANY COLOR of any kind in all of the feather piles...
Thanks for pondering it. Mystery it will remain if no one has a thought on it. The one pic with no bird in it is along the fence line where the feathers were. It seems like the fallen leaves there are piled up and thought whatever killed the bird maybe laid down there or dug around there, not sure, but it seemed like part of the "crime scene." The piece of wood under the rib parts is a 4 x 8 under a squat rack for weight lifting that is over under the trees, so whatever ate it seems to have moved over to the wood maybe for the meal after the killing along the fence? Also, the closer photos of the longer feathers look slightly beige-ish in the photo, but in real life they are COMPLETELY WHITE. Thanks again. Peace
Two nights ago, about 930pm, went out into backyard to enjoy the perfect night air. Was sitting in a chair on the back porch and heard an unusual noise over under the trees near the fence line. It sounded like heavy rustling that gave a bit of pause. I sit outside regularly and had never heard this sound.
Javelina came to mind due to the kind of "weight" of the rustling and the fact that we periodically see them, not often, in the front yard.(Campbell/Fort Lowell area) I moved closer to the door to hop inside as needed. There is no light in that part of the yard and I did not feel moved to shine a flashlight on it. I heard a kind of low throat sound that to me indicated javelina again. Although there is not a particular opening into the backyard. A loose gate on the fence, but not that opens widely. It did not sound like a cat or dog (or "feel" like one, if you will.)
I decided to just go in and shrug at the moment. In the morning, it was in my brain so I went over to the area. And lo! Discovered what you see in the pictures. I am very accustomed to seeing feather piles of doves over the years, I think are from hawk kills/feedings. This pile of feathers looks like none I have ever seen. ALL of the feathers are COMPLETELY WHITE. I know the downy little ones are with the doves, but there were ZERO recognizable longer feathers. The longer feathers are also COMPLETELY WHITE and very long compared to the usual dove ones. There was no COLOR of any kind in any of the feathers.
Brain said what kind of bird could this be? I am a native Tucsonan and have never seen a large purely white bird at all. I wondered if it may have been an escaped pet bird of someone. Then the thought of a duck came to mind as I looked at the longer white feathers, but that doesn't seem possible. An owl, but owls are not pure white. Thought I would post the pics here and see if anyone has any idea what this pure white bird could be. Literally, not ANY COLOR of any kind in all of the feather piles...
Thanks for pondering it. Mystery it will remain if no one has a thought on it. The one pic with no bird in it is along the fence line where the feathers were. It seems like the fallen leaves there are piled up and thought whatever killed the bird maybe laid down there or dug around there, not sure, but it seemed like part of the "crime scene." The piece of wood under the rib parts is a 4 x 8 under a squat rack for weight lifting that is over under the trees, so whatever ate it seems to have moved over to the wood maybe for the meal after the killing along the fence? Also, the closer photos of the longer feathers look slightly beige-ish in the photo, but in real life they are COMPLETELY WHITE. Thanks again. Peace
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