End of the Line for Turtledoves? : Tree Cutting at Union Station Seen as a Threat to Rare Birds

There are only two cities in the United States where the rare ringed turtledove can be observed in the wild--St. Petersburg, Fla., and Los Angeles.

Since 1926, the light-brown and cream-colored doves with a distinctive black neck ring have nested in ficus trees in the vicinity of Los Angeles’ historic Old Plaza and Union Station. Another small flock nests at Pershing Square.

Now, however, many of the doves’ nesting trees at Union Station on Alameda Street are being cut down on orders of Union Station owners, who say falling limbs have become a public hazard.

But the tree cutting is raising fears that the dove population may be decimated by the destruction of their chosen habitat.

The turtledove, a native of Sub-Saharan Africa, is not officially considered an endangered species because it is a foreign bird. But, at last count by the Los Angeles Zoo, there were 25 to 45 turtledoves in the Old Plaza area.

“They are in danger of losing their habitat and losing their existence,” Dr. Cathleen Cox, the zoo’s research director warned Tuesday.

12 Trees Remain

As of Tuesday, only 12 ficus trees remained at Union Station. Eighteen already have been cut down, including two on Tuesday. Urgent appeals to railroad and government officials have failed to immediately silence the chain saws.

However, a spokesman said the railroad started cutting down the ficus trees two years ago, but that it was not until this week that the railroads were told about the turtledoves.

Milton Slade, a contract landscaper who called in the tree cutters, said the ficus trees, popularly known as Indian laurel, have become a danger to pedestrians and motor vehicles because of their heavy, brittle limbs. Slade also said the trees’ roots are damaging pavement and sidewalks.

“They are a hazard. They really are the wrong tree in the wrong place,” he said.

Slade said he had never seen

a dove in the trees, “not even bird droppings.”

But, Cox, who has studied the doves for years, said that half of those in the Old Plaza make their nests in the trees at Union Station, and warned that cutting down the trees could reduce the dove’s already small population.

“It’s not that they’re all going to go extinct. But the problem is that doves, like other living organisms, are competitive for space.” She said there are a limited number of trees for nesting and that the displaced doves will be hard-pressed to find trees not already claimed by other doves.

In addition, she said the displaced doves are not likely to fly very far in search of new homes. Turtledoves have a very short range, she said. For example, she said, she has never seen any of the Old Plaza doves, which can be identified by tags, fly the short 1 1/2 miles to Pershing Square where other turtledoves nest.

“They look and they look and they look and maybe they’ll find a place and maybe they won’t. If they don’t, they don’t produce eggs. The life span varies from six months to four years in the wild,” Cox said.

Came as a Surprise

She said the tree cutting Tuesday came as a surprise because she had spoken Monday afternoon with Robert Pfister, superintendent of Union Passenger Terminal, who had left her with the impression that he would stop the tree cutting until he could take up the issue with the Board of Managers, representatives of the Union Pacific, Santa Fe and Southern Pacific railroads, which own the station.

But Thomas C. Buckley, a spokesman for the three railroads, said Pfister’s understanding was that no trees south of the main entrance to Union Station would be cut immediately, but that those trees on the north side would come down.

Meanwhile, the chain saws kept up a steady roar. “Some people just hate to see trees cut down. We run into it,” said tree cutter Rick Pegorick during a break.