Bar-shouldered Dove Geopelia humeralis

Way back on the 22nd December 2012 I was bored and decided to whistle to the birds just to see what would happen. Now, in the area a Bar-shouldered Dove (I've only just identified this bird call as that of the above mentioned Dove) had moved in just a day or three beforehand. There was only one bird calling out therefore I assumed only one individual was in the area. I heard no more than one bird of this species whilst it was here. It made the odd call which made me alert to it's presence. When it called out it only done so 3-4 times then went quiet. I didn't hear the bird again for several or more hours later. I haven't hear this bird in Tenterfield anymore but in the past I have heard it here often.

The Bar-shouldered Dove started hanging around the Crested Pigeons. I heard them both calling out from the same tree several times prior to recording this video. They were all together when this video was recorded I believe - I just can't remember precisely right now.

Anyway, I went outside and decided to start recording a video as there was nothing else to do. There was no "different bird activity" happening at the time and nothing new to take photos of. I was bored out of my brain so I just started whistling. Deciding I would whistle to the birds was an act and idea of spontaneity.

I am not a good whistler. I can't whistle properly and I've never learnt to whistle properly so I apologize for my terrible and loud whistling in this video in advance. I held the camera too close to my face.

Moments before I started whistling the Bar-shouldered Dove was quiet. Actually I hadn't heard it call out for 1/2 a day. I had no idea if it was even in the area still. To my surprise the Bar-shouldered Dove responded to my very first whistle and kept responding by calling after I whistled again, and again, and again, etc. I couldn't believe my ears that this bird was calling back to me over and over and over again. I wasn't even whistling the same note as it was yet it still responded to me.

Below is the trimmed video (from the original) that just has this bird calling back to me. At the end of the video I changed the note I was whistling and the bird stopped calling back to me. Go to this video (on my Youtube channel) to find out what bird calls are heard next. (There's 2 videos to my whistling spontaneity.)


I never saw the bird in irder to get a photo of it, and I could not see it when I went looking for it in the tree. The Bar-shouldered Dove left Tenterfield several days after this video was taken and I haven't heard it since. It was last located by itself for at least a day in a large gum tree near the edge of another neighbour's paddock before it disappeared.

Bar-shouldered Doves left Tenterfield some time ago. This particular individual was passing through town as there were no others of his kind in Tenterfield.