From Opus

Photo by Mybs
Matetsi Water Lodge, Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, May 2005

Turtur chalcospilos

[edit] Identification

Length 17-20 cm, mass 50-77 g. A small, brown dove with a grey head and iridescent green spots on the wing. There are two blackish bands accross the lower back.

[edit] Similar Species

Similar to the Black-billed Wood-Dove, but is darker and browner and the bill is dull red (rather than black); ranges only overlap (marginally) in Ethiopia and extreme south-western Sudan, where the Black-billed Wood-Dove prefers more dense woodland.

[edit] Distribution

From Ethiopia and Somalia through eastern Africa to eastern South Africa, and through central Africa to Angola and northern Namibia.

[edit] Taxonomy

Considered monotypic by Clements^[1]; Hockey et al.^[2] recognise three subspecies, varying mainly in the shade of the plumage.

[edit] Habitat

Woodland and savanna.

[edit] Behaviour

Solitary or in pairs; Forages on the ground under trees, and in clearings in woodland. The diet includes seeds, invertebrates and fallen figs.

[edit] Vocalisations

The call is a mourning series of deep coos; hoo, wuhoo, hoo, wuhoo, tu, tu-tu-tu-tu-tu-tu-tu, falling in pitch and speeding up towards the end.

[edit] Breeding

Monogamous and territorial. The nest is a platform built using twigs, petioles and roots; placed within 6 m of the ground in a bush, tree or creeper. One or two eggs are incubated for about 17 days by both adults and the nestling period is about 16 days.

[edit] References

1. Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, B.L. Sullivan, C. L. Wood, and D. Roberson. 2012. The eBird/Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to October 2012. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019. Spreadsheet available at http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/downloadable-clements-checklist
2. Hockey, PAR, WRJ Dean, and PG Ryan, eds. 2005. Roberts' Birds of Southern Africa. 7th ed. Cape Town: John Voelcker Bird Book Fund. ISBN 978-0620340533
3. Sinclair, I and P Ryan. 2003. Birds of Africa South of the Sahara. Princeton: Princeton Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0691118154

• List of references

[edit] External Links