Hi, all... Hoping someone here might be able to give me a hand.

 

My father's been taking up wildlife photography as a hobby recently... His health hasn't been the greatest over the past year or so, but he and my mother can still ride through the area's bird/wildlife refuges on the open roadways and stop to snap a few from their vehicle.

 

This past Thurs, my parents were in Bombay Hook NWR (east of Smyrna, Delaware) taking photos of various things.  My father spied what he thought was a hawk, based on the size of the bird, in a tree some distance away.  He stretched the zoom on his camera and noticed the colors and markings didn't look hawk-like at all.  He snapped some pictures and zoomed in more on the computer when he got home.

 

He's not sure what kind of bird this is and is pretty puzzled.  He emailed me, and, after looking in the ID books we have here, I'm not sure either.  My best guess was some kind of rail, but the dove-like head doesn't quite fit.  And, my father insists that the big was 'big' - especially, he says, given the distance away it was when he snapped the pictures.

 

Bombay Hook is an eastern shore, tidal marsh... so shorebirds of various kinds flow in and out, along with the more typical inland birds.  Every now and then, there will be wayward European visitors, but I kinda doubt that's what this is.

 

Anyway, I'd love to be able to give him some help with an ID if anyway has an idea.      Thanks!

It sure looks like a mourning dove to me, at least from the coloration.  

 

Yeah looks like a morning dove to me

Heh... Yeah, me too.  But I'm hoping for a different answer.  My dad maintains the size was too big to be a dove and, I think, he's shot enough doves to at least have a shot at being right.

 

But, perhaps there's no more exciting answer forthcoming.

Yep morning dove.

Agree, it's a Mourning Dove. If your Dad thought it was something bigger, what did he have it mind? The majority of non-water birds that are bigger than the dove are raptors and the bill clearly rules them out.

Was it raining or snowing or is there some nearby water? It looks like a dove with his feathers fluffed up to dry.

Was it raining or snowing or is there some nearby water? It looks like a dove with his feathers fluffed up to dry.

 

Bingo, plumage was fluffed out making it look a bit larger.

Would look better on a dinner plate.  

Wrapped in bacon with a slice if jalapeño, then grilled.

Wrapped in bacon with a slice if jalapeño, then grilled.

yeah buddy. x2

It looks like a dove, but if it is it would be a huge dove.  Dove are really small, this one appears to be about the size of a grouse, but it isn't a grouse.  The size is the only thing that is throwing me off.  Look at the size of the tree and branch that the bird is sitting.

That was his point, RetiredBosn... But I can't come up with anything more reasonable.

 

So, I will tell him that it's a dove.  

I think there may be more than one bird in the picture

That was my first reaction. Two morning doves

Google up a few images of a Gray or Hungarian Partridge.

Unless there is a shooting preserve nearby, couldn't be one.

boone and crockett morning dove. 

Maybe you can just tell him that "A bird in the hand is worth two in the...."....well you know.

A brown one.