From Opus

Alternative name: Palm Dove

Photo by Rajiv Lather
Karnal, India

Streptopelia senegalensis

[edit] Identification

25 centimetres (10 inches) in length

• Reddish-brown back, wings and tail
• Blue-grey in the wings
• Pink head and underparts, shading to whitish on the lower abdomen
• Black spots on the throat
• Red legs

[edit] Distribution

Africa south of the Sahara, the Middle East and southern Asia east to India.

Introduced to Australia.

[edit] Taxonomy

This species has recently been placed into the genus Stigmatopelia or alternatively in Spilopelia by some authorities following the studies of Johnson et al. (2001).

[edit] Subspecies

This is a polytypic species, consisting of five subspecies^[1]:

• S. s. phoenicophila :

• Oases south of Atlas Mountains in Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia

• S. s. aegyptiaca:

• Nile Valley (Suez Canal and delta south to Wadi Halfa)

• S. s. sokotrae:

• Socotra (off north-east Somalia)

• S. s. senegalensis:

• Africa south of the Sahara and Arabia

• S. s. cambayensis:

• Eastern Arabia to southern Iran, Indian subcontinent, western China and Andamans

[edit] Habitat

Scrub, dry farmland and habitation.

[edit] Behaviour

[edit] Breeding

It builds a stick nest in a tree and lays two white eggs.

[edit] Diet

Diet includes grass, seeds, grains, other vegetation and small insects.

[edit] References

1. Clements, JF. 2011. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to August 2011. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019. Spreadsheet available at http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/downloadable-clements-checklist
2. AvianWeb

• List of references

[edit] External Links