An apparent case of fright-moult (autotomy of feathers) in the laughing dove (Spilopelia senegalensis)

@felix_riegel @tonyrebelo @jeremygilmore @baldcoot @aguilita @ldacosta @jimsinclair @lsueza @adamwelz @colin25 @karimhaddad @lukedowney @thebeachcomber @botswanabugs

Autotomy (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autotomy) is known in various animals. However, its incidence in birds is poorly-documented.

There are intriguing hints, on the Web, of autotomy of the feathers in small-bodied columbids, viz.

• Geopelia cuneata (https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/3609-Geopelia-cuneata), and
• Zenaida macroura (https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/3454-Zenaida-macroura).

Please see:
https://www.birds-online.de/wp/en/birds-online-english/health-and-diseases/plumage-disorders-and-molt/moult/fright-moult/ and https://www.sarveywildlife.org/blog.aspx?post=3023&title=Mourning-Dove-attacked-by-cat and https://feederwatch.org/unusual-bird/mourning-dove-without-tail-feathers/

The term used has been 'fright moult' or 'fright molt'.

Also please see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mLJ0m5gEEf0 and https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=600613034506485 and https://www.birdnote.org/listen/shows/having-your-tail-scared and https://wrenandsparrow.com/blog/f/fright-molt and https://folkwaysnotebook.blogspot.com/2015/08/fight-or-flight.html.

If certain species of birds, particularly Columbidae (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?place_id=any&taxon_id=2715&view=species), use autotomy of feathers as a way of escaping from predators, this seems analogous to the shedding of tails by lizards when attacked.

I have, at various times in my life, found piles of the feathers of doves, in both the Perth metropolitan area of Western Australia, and in Cape Town, South Africa.

I did not record all these occasions, which may possibly total as many as 20 over my lifetime so far, in which feathers were present in quantity but there was no trace of other body-parts.

I paid too little attention at the start, because I was naive about the possibility of 'fright moult' in birds. I had simply presumed that the feathers were the refuse of a kill, not considering that the bird might instead have escaped.

Once I realised the possibilities, I recorded the following.

On 5 July 2006, in the suburbs of Fremantle, Western Australia, I encountered particular evidence of this kind of autotomy. This was during a spell of calm weather, when there was no wind to remove the feathers.

On the lawn of a wide road-verge, I found what looked like the results of a 'feather-explosion'. I am unsure of the identities involved, but I suspect that the bird was an individual of Spilopelia senegalensis (https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/1455922-Spilopelia-senegalensis), and the attacker was an individual of Felis catus, pouncing in vain by day, on the ground.

The road-verge here was wide, and the feathers were far (at least 3 m) from the tarmac. This means that the dove was probably not hit by a motor vehicle.

I collected most of the feathers, which totalled about 370 of various types and sizes (from one individual bird). If these feathers were shed on 4 or 5 July 2006, I found them one day after the attack, or on the same day.

The smallest were merely down feathers. The largest, which were >5 cm long, were probably secondaries.

I do not know if the attacker (probably F. catus) caught this dove, but I suspect that it did not.

Were the feathers detached in reaction to pressure exerted by the predator, or shed spontaneously before contact was made? On this occasion, some of the secondaries seemed to be aggregated at their bases, suggesting that they were detached in the clutches of the attacker.

However, the sheer number of feathers indicates that many or most of them were shed without being pulled off in any way by the attacker.

Has any Reader observed any similar evidence of fright-moult, referring to S. senegalensis, G. cuneata, Z. macroura, any other species of columbid, or any other species of bird?

Also please see https://www.inaturalist.org/journal/milewski/68965-the-difference-between-commensalism-and-habituation-exemplified-by-spilopelia-chinensis-in-australian-suburbs#.

Posted on Μάιος 21, 2023 1230 ΜΜ by milewski