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African Collared Dove - BirdForum Opus

Revision as of 08:13, 26 November 2021 by AndyHurley-86867 (talk | contribs) (→‎External Links: {{GS-checked}} <br /> <br />)

Alternative names: Barbary Dove, African Turtle Dove, Pink-headed Collared Dove, Ringed Turtle Dove, Rose-grey Dove

Photo by AJDH
Al Khobar, Saudi Arabia, June 2006
Streptopelia roseogrisea

Identification

26 cm (10 in)

  • Pale creamy buff
  • White chin, belly and undertail coverts
  • Black half-collar around back of neck
  • White undertail coverts
  • Red eye with white eye ring
  • Black bill
  • Crimson feet

Similar Species

Eurasian Collared Dove is very similar in plumage, but slightly larger, and with a very distinct voice. Mourning Collared Dove (occurs further south, but overlaps slightly in range) differs in having a red (not white) eye ring, and a yellow (not red) iris; it also has a slightly broader black collar.

Distribution

Photo by volker sthamer
Bilen, eastern Rift Valley, Ethiopia, Febreuary 2015

The Sahel region of Africa and the far southwest of the Arabian Peninsula in southwest Asia, in a narrow band between 11-20°N latitudes. Occurs at the southern edge of the Sahara Desert, in southern Mauritania, Senegal, Gambia, Mali, Burkina Faso, northern Benin, northern Nigeria, Niger, Chad, northern Cameroon, Sudan, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Somalia, Saudi Arabia, and Yemen.

Introduced to New Zealand as a cage bird but has become feral. A frequent escape in the United States, and feral in Hawaii.

Taxonomy

Barbary Dove, only known from captivity and formerly sometimes counted as a full species (Streptopelia risoria), is currently believed to be a captive variant of this species. Another interpretation is that African Collared Dove should be renamed to Streptopelia risoria because it is the senior synonym, but this has been ruled inadmissible by the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature as that is a name based on a domesticated animal[2]. Many feral Barbary Dove populations are leucistic to a greater or lesser degree.

Subspecies

Two subspecies are accepted[1]:

  • S. r. roseogrisea:
  • S. r. arabica:
A feral Barbary Dove in New Zealand
Photo by Layzeboy

Habitat

Savanna and thorn scrub.

Behaviour

Noted for their gentle nature.

Diet

They eat clover and weed seeds, split grain and newly sown or stubble grain supplemented with occasional invertebrates such as snails.

Breeding

Breeding is mainly between October and February and they re-nest several times a season. They lay 2 white eggs on a simple platform of twigs. Both adults incubate for about 15 days and the chicks fledge at about 15 days old

Vocalisation

Call: a persistent coo-crooo.

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. ICZN Case 3380
  3. Avibase

Recommended Citation

External Links

GSearch checked for 2020 platform.

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