Alice Springs Birds •
Alice Springs BirdsAlice Springs Birds — image index Babblers Black-faced Cuckooshrike Brown Falcon Channel-billed Cuckoo Crested Pigeon Galah Magpie-lark Musk Duck Port Lincoln Ringneck Rainbow Bee-eater Sacred Kingfisher Sanderling Spinifex Pigeon Singing Honeyeater Southern Boobook Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater Splendid Fairy-wren Spotted Dove Wedge-tailed Eagle Western Bowerbird Whistling Kite White-plumed Honeyeater Willie Wagtail Yellow-throated Miner
Considered a feral species here in Alice Springs, the Spotted Dove (Spilopelia chinensis) population came from 10 birds that were released from a backyard aviary in the early 1990. Since then, their population has increased considerable and are often seen around home gardens.
They are easy to identify from our native doves, as the Spotted Dove are a large dove with a black neck band, with white spots. They have red-brown eye (there is no distinct eye-ring). The head is grey, tinged pink and the underparts are pinkish-fawn in colour. The outer tail feathers are tipped white and they have pink legs.
After mating, the female Spotted Dove lay 1 tor 2 white eggs (sometimes have a slight glossy appearance). The eggs are then Incubated for 14 to 16 days (by both parents). The altricial (young recently hatched) chicks are covered in sparsely pale down. The parent birds take care of the young for the first week. The young fledge when they are about 2 weeks old.
Check out our Birds section for more info on the Spotted Dove (Spilopelia chinensis).
- Scientific classification
- Kingdom: Animalia
- Phylum: Chordata
- Subphylum: Vertebrata
- Informal: Gnathostomata
- Class: Aves
- Order: Columbiformes
- Family: Columbidae
- Subfamily: Columbinae
- Genus: Spilopelia
- Species: Spilopelia chinensis
- Subspecies:
- Spilopelia chinensis chinensis (Scopoli, 1786)
- Spilopelia chinensis tigrina (Temminck, 1809)
formerly:
- Genus: Streptopelia
- Species: Streptopelia chinensis
Footnote & References
- Feral Spotted Turtle-Dove Trapping, Land for Wildlife Garden for Wildlife https://wildlife.lowecol.com.au/projects/trap-loans/feral-dove-trapping/
- Doves and Pigeons of Alice Springs, Identification Sheet, Land for Wildlife, Central Australia, https://wildlife.lowecol.com.au/wp-content/uploads/sites/25/IDSheet.pdf
Alice Springs BirdsAlice Springs Birds — image index Babblers Black-faced Cuckooshrike Brown Falcon Channel-billed Cuckoo Crested Pigeon Galah Magpie-lark Musk Duck Port Lincoln Ringneck Rainbow Bee-eater Sacred Kingfisher Sanderling Spinifex Pigeon Singing Honeyeater Southern Boobook Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater Splendid Fairy-wren Spotted Dove Wedge-tailed Eagle Western Bowerbird Whistling Kite White-plumed Honeyeater Willie Wagtail Yellow-throated Miner
Alice Springs FaunaAlice Springs Native Bees Alice Springs Beetles Alice Springs Birds Alice Springs Gastropods (Gastropoda) Alice Springs Insects Alice Springs Marsupials Alice Springs Reptiles Alice Springs Spiders
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