EPOW - Ecology Picture of the Week

Spinifex Hiding in Plain View

Spinifex Pigeon (Geophaps plumifera), Family Columbidae
Bladensburg National Park, Queensland, Australia

Explanation:  While hiking the grassland plains of Bladensburg National Park in Outback Queensland, Australia, I noticed movement among the rock cobble.  There appeared a couple of Spinifex Pigeons, desert dwellers of this arid landscape.

But what struck me was how strikingly patterned was their plumage, from their black, white, gray, and red facial pattern, to the sharp contrast of their white belly against their black-striped brown and bronze wings, with variations among the races.  They have even been called "flashy."  

Yet ... even more striking was how well they blended into their rock-strewn habitat:

I view part of their cryptic appearance as disruptive coloration,
where the white belly can seem to break up the body outline
to confuse predators such as raptors. 

Cryptic patterning and coloration can be found in many other wildlife species, including other birds in arid environments such as we saw previously with Eurasian Nightjars in the Gobi Desert of Mongolia.  

And, as for Spinifex Pigeons, their common name refers to their being associated with the hummock grass spinifex (Triodia spp.), endemic to Australia.  According to some accounts, Spinifex Pigeons commonly nest on the ground beneath spinifex grass, scraping a ground nest and depositing two white eggs.   

And Happy New Year from Ecology Picture of the Week!