Mourning Doves.....with a question.

I've seen a bunch of doves in my day, but I never really noticed before seeing these captures from today that there are apparently 2 colors of irredescence on the neck: yellow or magenta. Does anyone know if the different colors have a significance other than just 2 different colors? Might it be juvie/adult, or male/female, or something else? Please share your knowledge if you know the reason.


Here's the yellow irredescence....

1.

Fantastic series with amazing detail Steve! And GOOD observation too! I hadn't noticed the irredescense before. Now i am curious. I went back to check the ones i captured, they have magenta.

Great set.
Head shot (# 3)is my favorite.

I don't know the answer, but regardless, very good pictures

Wow, you sure have an eye for detail, Steve!! No idea about the yellow/magenta difference, but interested in the answer as well. And these are also great shots. I always love seeing images of it as we don't have it here and it's such a lovely bird.

Excellent shots Steve! Very nice clarity and detail. Although it wouldn't surprise me if the female has some iridescence. My Stokes field guide says "the male has iridescent sides of the neck and a light gray crown, while the female is evenly brown on head and neck".

Excellent shots Steve, the close ups are as good as it gets, nice reflection of the trees in the eye. Well done.
As far as the color, I don't know for a fact that the colors are males but I do know and have seen it, they can change that color, the iridescence goes green, gold and red and can get brighter, the same with the magenta or pink, red chest can brighten up. They are almost always the brightest when they are in pursuit mode for lack of a better word. If you follow them around when they are in the courting time and both are happy they will make out like a couple of teenagers in the back seat, locking lips, getting crazy in the trees, then mate, I actually shot this whole thing in the back yard. When they get all puffed up, strutting they are quite a sight.

cfcRebel wrote in post #13844182
Fantastic series with amazing detail Steve! And GOOD observation too! I hadn't noticed the irredescense before. Now i am curious. I went back to check the ones i captured, they have magenta.

Thank you for the nice words Fee. I think for the most part I've only seen magenta before too. With Brets comments below I'm now wondering what part time of the year plays.

Charles Roy wrote in post #13844209
Great set.
Head shot (# 3)is my favorite.

Thank you Charles. I thought the head shots were neat too -

2slo wrote in post #13844257
I don't know the answer, but regardless, very good pictures

Thanks Mark. Do you even have Mourning Doves in the UK? Maybe that's why you don't know the answer -

Levina de Ruijter wrote in post #13844454
Wow, you sure have an eye for detail, Steve!! No idea about the yellow/magenta difference, but interested in the answer as well. And these are also great shots. I always love seeing images of it as we don't have it here and it's such a lovely bird.

I appreciate your kind comments Levina. It's just one of those things that is perplexing to me and dangit, I want to know!

txcanon wrote in post #13844919
Excellent shots Steve! Very nice clarity and detail. Although it wouldn't surprise me if the female has some iridescence. My Stokes field guide says "the male has iridescent sides of the neck and a light gray crown, while the female is evenly brown on head and neck".

Your compliments are very kind Brad. I think with Brets comments below it very well may have to do with breeding status rather than gender or age. Kinda makes sense.

BGgraphy wrote in post #13845044
Excellent shots Steve, the close ups are as good as it gets, nice reflection of the trees in the eye. Well done.
As far as the color, I don't know for a fact that the colors are males but I do know and have seen it, they can change that color, the iridescence goes green, gold and red and can get brighter, the same with the magenta or pink, red chest can brighten up. They are almost always the brightest when they are in pursuit mode for lack of a better word. If you follow them around when they are in the courting time and both are happy they will make out like a couple of teenagers in the back seat, locking lips, getting crazy in the trees, then mate, I actually shot this whole thing in the back yard. When they get all puffed up, strutting they are quite a sight.

I appreciate your complimentary comments Bret. I think your explanation makes a lot of sense. I've certainly seen them all puffed up and struttin' there stuff, but not up close enough to look for this feature. I also later noticed how "warm" the breast of the magenta bird looks; and I know I've seen doves mating here just in the last couple of weeks. I think you've probably nailed it -

I wonder if it is something to do with readiness for breeding, too? I know that male cardinals actually get "more" red when it is close to breeding time, and I swear I remember one type of sparrow actually completely changes feathering before breeding. If you go through a Peterson's field guide you'll probably find several where there are bird images and there are three and one is listed as "non-breeding". Sometimes it is also juvenile vs. full-grown, and the males develop the color change right before they are ready to breed...

The iridescence on your magenta one has yellow above its magenta... it could be a simple coloring difference. I read one blog post when googling around about this about a juvenile that had yellow iridescence all over...