Being on the very bottom of Alabama has its perks, especially if you're into birds. I'm not really a birder, but I run in circles close to some. Right off the bat, we have exceptional opportunities to see migrating birds on our beaches, being a final/first stop re: the Gulf.

But besides that, we also have some interesting things happening with our doves.
Growing up, I was familiar with two species, mourning doves and pigeons (aka rock doves).
Today it's not uncommon to see a couple more.

Eurasian collared-doves, or ringneck doves, are an exotic species and relative newcomer to the US. I remember seeing/hearing my first one down at the beach as a kid, and they've continued to expand across the continent. They're somewhat common around here today.

More recently, I noticed another species, white-winged doves, which originally hail from the Southwest and south, and more tropical areas such as the Caribbean. Some were apparently introduced to Florida, but it seems like their recent range expansion is pretty "natural"...

As opportunists, white-winged doves seem like one of the species that has learned to live and thrive alongside humans' disrupted habitats. And early anecdotal evidence from local bird nerds suggests they MIGHT be starting to outcompete Eurasian-collared doves around here.

Personally, I'd rather see migrants from our south/west expanding their range than have an extra-continental transplant fill a niche, even if ecologically they may not be that dissimilar. Did I mention they're handsome birds? Check this WikiCommons image ( https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ala_Blanca.jpg)

But one of the main reasons I enjoy seeing this dove is a tiny bit of hope I hold based on one line:
"White-winged doves are much more gregarious than mourning doves, tending to be more like its extinct passenger pigeon (Ectopistes migratorus) cousin." https://www.outdooralabama.com/pigeons/white-winged-dove

White-winged doves are bigger than mourning doves, they flock together, migrate, and eat larger seeds. I'm not saying they will replace the niche of passenger pigeons, and I'm not sure ecologically that same niche exists today, but damn, wouldn't it be cool if they were close?