花香鳥語：珠頸斑鳩和野鴿

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• 牠們屬於同一類雀鳥（鳩鴿科），大家都有肥肥的身軀，細小的頭部，短短的嘴和腳。牠們身長約30厘米。珠頸斑鳩頸部的黑斑上布滿白點，好像戴了一串珍珠頸鏈啊！野鴿形態變化很大，一般是藍灰色，翅膀上有兩條黑帶。

• 本地野鴿的祖先是人們飼養的家鴿，所以被放生的後代，都未能完全適應野外生活，較倚賴人類餵食。習慣野外生活的珠頸斑鳩，覓食本能較高。牠們都愛吃果實、種子、昆蟲，甚至人類遺留或丟棄的食物。

Spotted Doves and Feral Pigeons

．Feral Pigeons and Spotted Doves belong to the same family,Columbidae(which includes pigeons and doves).Both have fat bodies,small heads,short bills and short legs.Both have adult bodies that are about 30 cm long.But their colouring is quite different.Spotted Doves are brown,with a black collar on the neck,with white spots.By contrast,the plumage of Feral Pigeons is variable.Generally they are bluish grey,with two black stripes on the wings.

．The ancestors of local Feral Pigeons were once domestic pigeons.As a result,even after many generations ,Feral Pigeons cannot survive as truly wild birds,out of the contact and food sources of humans.Spotted Doves,by contrast,are used to living without human contact-and so can forage and survive in the wild.Both of these birds feed on fruits,seeds,insects,or food left by humans.　■資料：漁護署