From Opus

Photo by RMD
Nhulunbuy, Northern Territory, Australia, January, 2005

Geopelia humeralis

[edit] Identification

• Blue-grey head, neck and upper breast
• Reddish-bronze patch on hindneck, dark barring
• Pinkish bar on the lower breast
• Pale lower body
• Blue-grey eye-ring and reddish eye
  

Juveniles lack the hindneck patch and barring and tend to be duller overall

[edit] Flight

The copper colour of the nape and primaries shows well in flight.

[edit] Distribution

Southeast Asia: Indonesia
Australasia: New Guinea, Australia: New South Wales, Northern Territory, Queensland, Victoria, Western Australia, Melanesia

[edit] Taxonomy

[edit] Subspecies^[1]

There are 3 subspecies.

• G. h. gregalis:

• Lowlands of coastal south-eastern New Guinea

• G. h. humeralis:

• Lowlands of northern and eastern Australia

• G. h. headlandi:

• North-central Western Australia (Pilbara region)

A fourth subspecies, G. h. inexpectata, is not recognised by all authorities^[1].

[edit] Habitat

Lowland rainforest and mangroves, scrubby bush, beach woodlands, wooded suburban parks and gardens.

[edit] Behaviour

[edit] Diet

The diet includes seeds of grasses, herbs, sedges, and rhizomes.

[edit] Breeding

The nest is a thin platform made from twigs and roots and is placed in dense shrubs or trees. Both parents incubate the eggs and feed the chicks. Young doves are fed with 'crop milk'.

[edit] References

1. Clements, JF. 2008. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to December 2008. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019. Spreadsheet available at http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist.
2. Avibase
3. Birds in Backyards
4. BF Member observations

• List of references

[edit] External Links