Q and A column

Topeka Capital-Journal, The, Jun 26, 2005 by DICK KING Capital-Journal

Question: About four or five years ago, I noticed a pair of large doves roosting in my yard. They were light gray with black bands on the back of the neck and black wing tips where they fold to the body. They kept coming back every year, and now they number 15. I can't find them in my bird book, so they are not rock doves or mourning doves. I'm 78 and have lived my entire life in Smith County and had never seen them until a few years ago. Can you tell me what they are? --- E.H., Smith Center.

Answer: They are Eurasian collared-doves, said Robyn Ford, owner of the Wild Bird House in Brookwood Shopping Center and a local bird expert.

"A century ago, this species was found primarily on the Indian subcontinent, although its range extended slightly into Europe in Turkey," she said. "In the early 1900s, the species began expanding its range significantly and by 1950 had reached the British Islands."

They were introduced into the Bahamas in the 1970s, and at some point in the 1980s they migrated without assistance into Florida, Ford said. Because they look much like the ringed turtle-dove, the collared-doves started to spread unnoticed.

"It wasn't until the mid-1980s that ornithologists realized the suddenly prolific and quickly spreading turtle-doves they were watching were actually Eurasian collared-doves," she said.

The doves' stronghold in the United States is still Florida, but as of 1999 they have been reported in 22 states, Ford said.

"The bird is not migratory, and it breeds wherever there are trees for nesting," she said. "It is not wary and is often found around human habitation."

More about Horseradish manufacturers in Topeka:

Two readers called after last week's column to say they knew of two other Topekans who manufactured and sold horseradish in addition to the one we mentioned.

One was Otto Kuehne, who was president of the Kuehne Preserving Co. at 301 N.W. Curtis and was associated with his brothers in Kuehne Wholesale Grocers, a nearby business at N.E. Curtis at the corner of N.W. Topeka Blvd.

Otto Kuehne later was president of Kansas Sand Co. from the mid- 1930s into the mid-1960s.

Another reader said a family whose last name was Tice manufactured horseradish at a plant on Reo Street near N.W. Topeka Boulevard, just north of the cloverleaf in North Topeka.

He said the company's brand was Jimmy Mack, which reportedly was named for the owner's son, who died in his youth.

If you have a question for retired Capital-Journal newsman Dick King, call 295-5610 and leave a message, or write to Dick King, The Topeka Capital-Journal, 616 S.E. Jefferson, Topeka, 66607.