Jon Anderson writes:
> Serge, you noted that the various Rock Dove plumages in the Jardin des
> Plantes, as well as in other urban environments, might be due to the lack
> of predators in the city.
>
> I wonder whether this hypothesis might be refuted by the wide variation
> in the large RURAL Rock Dove populations. These birds are plentiful
> along the Columbia River gorge and eastward along the 'rimrock' along
> I-84 past Arlington and Umatilla, Oregon.

Interesting.
The "wild" populations of Rock Doves I know in Brittany live in coastal cliffs,
and partial albinos are quite scarce there (a few percent).

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A bird in the bush is better than two in the hand.

Serge Le Huitouze Intelligent Software Group
email: serge at cs.sfu.ca School of Computing Science
tel: (604) 291-5423 Simon Fraser University
fax: (604) 291-3045 Burnaby, B.C., V5A 1S6 CANADA