Blue-headed Wood Dove - BirdForum Opus

Photo by dandsblair
Ankasa, Ghana, February 2015

Turtur brehmeri

Identification

25 cm

• Rufous brown
• Blue-grey head
• Iridescent green wing patches
• Reddish bill
• Dark brown iris
• Dark red feet
  

Sexes similar
Juvenile: duller than adult

Distribution

Western Africa: found in Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Comoé, Ghana, Togo, Nigeria, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Congo and Angola.

Taxonomy

Subspecies

There are 2 subspecies^[1]:

• T. b. infelix:

• Coastal Guinea and Sierra Leone to Cameroon

• T. b. brehmeri:

• Southern Cameroon to northern Congo, eastern Zaire and extreme north-western Angola

Habitat

Primary rainforest.

Behaviour

Flight

Their flight is fast and direct.

Breeding

The nest is built from twigs, leaves and other plant material and is placed in a tree. The clutch consists of 1-2 eggs.

Diet

The diet includes seeds, fallen fruits, insects, their larvae and slugs.

Movements

A sedentary species.

References

1. Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2014. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: Version 6.9., with updates to August 2014. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
2. Avibase
3. Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved March 2015)
4. Wikipedia

• List of references

Recommended Citation

• BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Blue-headed Wood Dove. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 23 November 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Blue-headed_Wood_Dove

External Links

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