Luzon bleeding-heart dove

[Ruhi_Rose]

STUNNING AND EXTRAORDINARY!





Luzon Bleeding-heart dove, a species of ground dove, gets its name from a spatter of bright red color at the center of its white breasts. No matter how carefully one looks, the red patch looks so real .. like a bleeding wound or an injury. But it isn't. It's just a natural color. Amazingly as one can see, the red hue extends beyond the vivid red patch, fading into a lighter shade of red and further creating the illusionary affect of blood running down the bird's front. The males have a slightly brighter red patch. Unlike the common rock pigeons, the bleeding-heart doves are very quiet and timid. They seldom leave the ground. Whenever they fly off, it's to get into their nests. They are found only in Luzon, the largest and northernmost island in the Philippines

All praise be to Allah Almighty.

[Zainab_M]

Allah!  Mash'Allah, Subhan'Allah !!   Isn't this awesome beyond words ?!   I recall once while bird-watching in Pakistan, I saw a beautiful finch-sized bird in our lush garden with a patch of similar red, more rectangular in shape, on its hind side, sitting on our clementine tree. I was literally startled seeing that red color, looked so much like blood.  But the bird was chirruping and moving about like any other healthy bird.  Minutes later I saw 2 or 3 similar ones join flying in and relaxing on the same tree with the same red patch behind them.  And then I felt relaxed too and said to myself "thank Allah, it's not an injury." 

[Ruhi_Rose]

Right sis.  It's indeed incredible.  All praise be to Allah only.

I've also seen the ones you mentioned in Pakistan.  They look a bit like a much smaller version of woodpeckers.  They have the bright red patch but the surrounding area doesn't seem to have the lighter hue creating the drooling red affect. 

[Zainab_M]

Exactly ....