Alice Springs Desert Park

ASDP BirdsAustralian Boobook Owl Australian Bustard Australian Hobby Banded Lapwing Barn Owl Black Kite Black-breasted Buzzard Black-faced Woodswallow Black-fronted Dotterel Bourke’s Parrot Brown Falcon Emu Inland Dotterel Orange Chat Pied Honeyeater Princess Parrot Rainbow Bee-eater Red-capped Robin Spinifex Pigeon Splendid Fairy-wren Tawny Frogmouth Wedge-tailed Eagle Western Bowerbird Whistling Kite White-faced Heron White-winged Fairywren

Alice Springs Desert ParkFauna Flora Nature Theatre Nocturnal House

The Spinifex Pigeon (Geophaps plumifera) is a small crested pigeon, distinguished by it tall upright crest, conspicuous red patch across the eyes, rusty/bluff coloured plumage and black and buff crescentric bars on the upper parts of the body and wings.

Their preferred habitat is spinifex, arid and semi-arid desert regions, including rocky ranges, gorges, hilly sandy ridge. They can be seen throughout Central Australia and the arid northern parts of Australia from Western Australia through to outback Queensland.

Sometimes in attendance at the Free-flying Birds Show in the Nature Theatre, the Spinifex Pigeons can be seen searching the ground for seeds.

Images © Ausemade PL

More information in our Fauna IndexBirds: Spinifex Pigeon.


  • Scientific classification
  • Kingdom: Animalia
  • Phylum: Chordata
  • Class: Aves
  • Order: Columbiformes
  • Family: Columbidae
  • Genus: Geophaps
  • Species: Geophaps plumifera

ASDP BirdsAustralian Boobook Owl Australian Bustard Australian Hobby Banded Lapwing Barn Owl Black Kite Black-breasted Buzzard Black-faced Woodswallow Black-fronted Dotterel Bourke’s Parrot Brown Falcon Emu Inland Dotterel Orange Chat Pied Honeyeater Princess Parrot Rainbow Bee-eater Red-capped Robin Spinifex Pigeon Splendid Fairy-wren Tawny Frogmouth Wedge-tailed Eagle Western Bowerbird Whistling Kite White-faced Heron White-winged Fairywren

ASDP FaunaASDP Arachnida ASDP Birds ASDP Insects ASDP Reptiles Dingo Ghost Bat Greater Bilby Numbat Red Kangaroo Short-beaked Echidna Spinifex Hopping Mouse Thorny Devil Western Quoll

Alice Springs Desert ParkFauna Flora Nature Theatre Nocturnal House