HARLINGEN, Texas (ValleyCentral) — It’s a common belief that the dove is the international symbol of peace.
Doves are mentioned numerous times in the bible, and in particular Noah is said to have sent out a gentle dove that returned with an olive branch signaling dry land was nearby.
The Aztecs and many Indian tribes used delicate doves in their wedding rituals seeing doves as symbols of love and devotion.
In Greek mythology, the dove symbolizes Aphrodite, the goddess of love.
There are some 15 species of dove in North America, and in South Texas, there are several varieties including mourning doves, ground doves, Inca doves, white-tipped doves, Eurasian collared dove, and the distinctive white wing.
Doves are typically docile and tend to get along…mingling amicably at the backyard feeder.
Well, all except one…the backyard bully…who apparently missed out on the gentle gene.
Peaceful gathering and sharing of food is no more since the recent arrival of the angry bird.
Now, any white-wing that attempts to land on the feeder is immediately driven away.
Not only are all feeder landings prohibited, but angry bird chases away any white wing that dares land in the vicinity of the feeder.
When angry bird is not aggressively enforcing the no-landing zone, this bully perches nearby menacingly flicking his tail up and down while glaring malevolently with fierce orange eyes before dive bombing any interlopers.
Angry bird does appear a bit disheveled with unkempt plumage and sort of looks like he might have just emerged from beneath an old truck at the junkyard.
Outnumbered and out-billed, this junkyard bully even takes on a group of red-crowned parrots with aggressive wing-snapping fervor.
Not sure where he came from or why he reigns as such an angry bird, but for now the backyard avian harmony has been disrupted by this heralded emissary of peace that is anything but gentle.
