From Opus

Alternative name: Rameron Pigeon

Photo by Mybs
near Cape Town, South Africa, July 2004

Columba arquatrix

[edit] Identification

37-42 cm
Male

• Maroon back and wings
• Shoulders heavily speckled with white spots
• Maroon underparts with heavy white spotting
• Grey head,
• Yellow patches around the eye
• Yellow bill
• Neck plumage (used in display) streaked maroon and white
• Dark grey underwing and undertail
• Yellow feet
  

Female: very similar but somewhat duller
Juvenile: dark brown plumage (instead of maroon and grey). Bare parts are dull greeny-yellow, and the wing feathers have pale fringes.

[edit] Distribution

Africa, Arabia
Western Africa: Guinea, Nigeria, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Democratic Republic of Congo, Angola
Eastern Africa: Sudan, Ethiopia, Somalia, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania, Zambia, Mozambique, Malawi
Southern Africa: Zimbabwe, South Africa, KwaZulu-Natal, Lesotho, Swaziland
African Islands: Gulf of Guinea Islands, Bioko (Fernando Po), Sao Tome, Principe
Arabia: Arabian Peninsula, Saudi Arabia, Yemen

[edit] Taxonomy

Monotypic.

[edit] Habitat

Mountain shrubland, second growth and clearings, and in tall trees close to cultivated land.

[edit] Behaviour

Occurs in groups (occasionally in sizeable flocks)

[edit] Breeding

It builds a large stick nest and 1 white eggs is laid and incubated for 17-20 days; the young fledge in another 20 days.

[edit] Diet

The diet includes fruit and berries, and some insects and caterpillars.

[edit] References

1. Avibase
2. Wikipedia

[edit] External Links