Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park
Fauna of Uluru-Kata TjutaCamel Central Netted Dragon Crested Pigeon Freckled Goanna Main’s Frog Native Centipede Sand Goanna Processionary Caterpillar Spinifex Hopping Mouse Spinifex Pigeon Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater
The Spinifex Pigeon (Geophaps plumifera) is distinctive pigeon, with its tall upright crested tuft of feathers on its head and its rusty / bluff coloured plumage. Smaller in size then other species of pigeons (a medium to small plump bird), it has black and buff crescentric bars on the upper parts of the body and wings and a conspicuous red patch across the eyes.
They are usually in spinifex, arid and semi-arid desert habitats, rocky ranges, gorges, hilly sandy ridge regions. They are never far from water, from natural and man-made water sources such as stock drinking troughs. They are found mainly in Central Australia, the arid northern parts of the Northern Territory, Western Australia and outback Queensland regions.
A ground feeding pigeon that can be seen running nimbly around and if flushed they fly off with their wings making loud whirrs. They have soft, high-pitched ‘coos’, ‘cooloo-coo’ and even a deep guttural ‘coo-r-r-r’.
Check out our Fauna Index section for Spinifex Pigeon.
- Scientific classification
- Kingdom: Animalia
- Phylum: Chordata
- Class: Aves
- Order: Columbiformes
- Family: Columbidae
- Genus: Geophaps
- Species: Geophaps plumifera
Fauna of Uluru-Kata TjutaCamel Central Netted Dragon Crested Pigeon Freckled Goanna Main’s Frog Native Centipede Sand Goanna Processionary Caterpillar Spinifex Hopping Mouse Spinifex Pigeon Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater
Uluru-Kata Tjuta National ParkFauna of Uluru-Kata Tjuta Flora of Uluru-Kata Tjuta