19. Tambourine Dove Doves are usually thought of as symbols of peace: I suppose it’s from the biblical story of Noah’s ark and the dove that brought back an olive branch as a sign that the flood was over. But, to their own kind, they can be aggressive and intimidating. It’s all about sex, of course, or rather about reproduction and access to females. I doubt, in fact, that they’re much worse than other doves or even many humans. But the Tambourine Dove has a particularly diffident and unassuming air about it, at least to look at. Perhaps, though, the misleading idea of their peacefulness comes not from their appearance or even their behaviour, but from their calls. Dove calls are usually gentle and lulling, especially in the evening as the sun goes down: like an avian lullaby. This is how one bird book describes the call of the Emerald-Spotted Wood Dove, whose call is much like that of the Tambourine: “Long slow call of muffled poo notes lasting up to 10 seconds: first two or three are hesitant upslurs, then three seesawing notes, and a long slow series of 15 descending poo notes which accelerate as they fade.” Someone worked very hard to produce that description: respect. Birds of AFRICAMA House 42 Birds of AFRICAMA House 43