Speckled Pigeon
Columba guinea
Big, dark pigeon with white spots across the shoulder and a big red patch of bare skin around the eye. In flight, shows a gray tail band and rump. Found in many different open habitats, and nests in towns and cities and on cliffs. Only absent from thick forest. Common vocalizations are a “rrrour” call and an accelerating series of hoots. Somewhat similar to Rameron Pigeon, but largely absent from forest, and shows much larger wing spots and red rather than yellow bare facial skin.
Identification
This is a large pigeon at 41 cm in length. Its back and wings are rufous, the latter heavily speckled with white spots. The rest of the upperparts and underparts are blue-grey, and the head is grey with red patches around the eye. The neck is brownish, streaked with white, and the legs are red. Sexes are similar, but immatures are browner than adults and lack the red eye patches. The call is a loud doo-doo-doo.
Taxonomy
In 1747 the English naturalist George Edwards included a description and an illustration of the speckled pigeon in the second volume of his A Natural History of Uncommon Birds. His hand-coloured etching was made from two live birds at the home of the Duke of Richmond in London. Edwards was told that the pigeons had been brought from the inland region of Guinea in West Africa. When in 1758 the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus updated his Systema Naturae for the tenth edition, he placed the speckled pigeon with all the other pigeons in the genus Columba. Linnaeus included a brief description, coined the binomial name Columba guinea and cited Edwards' work.<p>There are two recognised subspecies:
- Scientific name
- Columba guinea
- Authority
- Linnaeus, 1758
- Order
- Columbiformes
- Family
- Columbidae
- Genus
- Columba
Range and habitat
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
The speckled pigeon is frequently seen around human habitation and cultivation. Most of its food is vegetable, and it gathers in large numbers where grain or groundnuts are available. This species builds a large stick nest on protected rocky outcrops and in urban areas often atop covered pergola pillars and on flat roofs under deep eaves and lays two white eggs. Its flight is quick, with regular beats and an occasional sharp flick of the wings that are characteristic of pigeons in general.
Conservation
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Red-capped Parrot
Purpureicephalus spurius
Medium-sized, vividly colored parrot of eucalypt woodlands in southwestern Australia, where it uses the long bill to feed on eucalypt seeds, especially of Marri trees. Upperparts dark green, underparts purple, with red under the tail, red cap, and bright lime-green cheeks. Juvenile lacks red cap and is dully plumaged below. Calls includes scratchy chattering and squawking.
Katanga Masked-Weaver
Ploceus katangae
This red-eyed masked-weaver has a plain olive-green back and pink-brown legs. The breeding male has a black face mask, with the black band on the forehead above the bill varying from broad in the south to narrow farther north. Female and juvenile are dull and inseparable from other masked-weavers. Pairs and colonies are localized residents of reedbeds, wetlands and adjacent woodland, in a narrow global range between northeastern Zambia and southeastern DRC. The breeding males of Katanga and Southern masked-weavers are very similar, but the former are smaller, have some saffron around the masks, and have darker green backs and rumps; breeding male Tanganyika and Lake Lufira Masked-Weavers have more burnt-orange around the face and underparts, and ranges do not overlap.
Northern Carmine Bee-eater
Merops nubicus
Large and gorgeous bee-eater with a mostly carmine body, and blue-green head and belly. The central tail feathers are elongated. In flight, reveals a blue-green rump, and rosy underwings with black trailing edge. Found in a variety of savanna habitats. Usually in flocks, and breeds colonially in riverbanks. Often perches on the backs of mammals and large birds, catching the insects that they disturb. The call is low-pitched and raspy, less musical than most bee-eaters. Similar to Southern Carmine Bee-eater, but there is virtually no overlap in range, and easily separated by the blue-green rather than carmine throat.
Start Your Bird Watching Journey
Identify a bird outdoors and keep the field guide close for your next observation.