The zebra dove is our little dove. (Our big dove is the spotted dove) This cute little guy is basically considered a huge pest – much like the urban pidgeon. According to the Bishop Museum:
A small group of Zebra Doves were reportedly brought to Kaua’i, O’ahu, Moloka’i, and Maui in 1922, possibly from a Singapore dealer (Bryan 1958). They were identified then as G.s. striata (Munro 1944, Swedberg 1967b, Walker 1967) but the shipment was also reported to have included some Barred and Peaceful doves… Munro collected what he determined to be Peaceful Doves on Lana’i in the 1920s but it appears these were all Zebra Doves. Munro also suggested that populations may have been genetically introgressed with Bar-shouldered Dove, also introduced to Hawaii in the 1920s but all specimens examined to date show no signs of introgression with this or other Geopilia (PP examination). By the late 1930s Zebra Doves had reached and become common on all Southeastern Islands except Hawai’i I, where they soon spread and became established, initially in n. Kona and sparingly in N Kohala (Northwood 1940, Schwartz & Schwartz 1949). In 1946 Schwartz and Schwartz (1949) estimated a population of 237,000 individuals on Kaua’i (ca. 52,000), O’ahu (ca. 70,000), Molokai (ca. 52,000), Maui (ca. 47,000), Lana’i (ca. 10,000), and Hawai’i I (ca. 7,800); highest densities (up to 800 per square mile) were found in dryer areas of O’ahu and Moloka’i. They have since spread throughout Hawai’i I and have much higher populations there (Lewin 1971; Berger 1972, 1981; Scott et al. 1986), and undoubtedly on the other islands as well.
Over 10,000 were shot around the Lihue Airport, Kaua’i, Jan-May 1992 as part as damage control. Although listed as a gamebird (Walker 1967) and actively taken through at least the 1970s (Berger 1981), little hunting of this species currently occurs in Hawaii.
All that being said – I like them. I think most people do. Someone liked the birds in the photo enough to feed them left over rice. BTW – I like pigeons and starlings too.
Today I was hunting for something easy to eat at the grocery. Then I realized – YIKES – my days of Ahi and Avocados were coming to an end. A big chunk of ahi is on tap for dinner. But with a nice orange not an avocado.
