This article is about the species of dove found in eastern and southern Africa. For the bird often called ringneck dove in captivity, see Barbary dove. For other uses, see Ring dove (disambiguation).
The ring-necked dove (Streptopelia capicola), also known as the Cape turtle dove or half-collared dove, is a widespread and often abundant dove species in East and southern Africa. It is a mostly sedentary bird,[2][3] found in a variety of open habitats. Within range, its penetrating and rhythmic, three-syllabled crooning is a familiar sound at any time of the year.[3] Its name is derived from the semi-collar of black feathers on the lower nape,[4] a feature shared with a number of Streptopelia species. Like all doves, they depend on surface water. They congregate in large flocks at waterholes in dry regions[2] to drink and bathe.[5]
The plumage tones are darkest on the upper parts, while the lower belly and vent are white
Their body feathers are darkest on the upper side, where they are coloured in dull tones of grey and brown, with shades of lavender on the nape.[6] It is paler below, where a tint of pinkish lavender is usually present. The lower belly and crissum (the undertail coverts surrounding the cloaca) is white.[4] As with related species, they have white fringes and conspicuous white tips to the otherwise slate grey tail feathers. The tail pattern is particularly noticeable during the display flight.
Individual plumage variation is high, with some light and others almost sooty.[5] Males and females look alike, although the males are slightly bigger. They measure 25–26.5cm (9.8–10.4in) in length[4] and weigh 92–188g (3.2–6.6oz).[7][8][9] The eyes are almost black, the bill is black and the feet are dark purple.[4][5]
An immature is duller[10] and lacks the semi-collar of an adult. It also has buff edges to all the upper part and wing covert feathers, while the plumage below is broadly edged greyish-white.[2]
Habitat
It occupies a diverse range of habitat types, including semi-desert scrub, Boscia and Acaciasavannah, a variety of woodland types, farmlands, open plantations and alien acacia thickets. Only closed forest or plantations,[3] or the extensive waterless dune fields and gravel plains of the Namib[6] are unsuited to their requirements. In southern Africa, they are most commonly observed in fynbos regions, miombo and mopane woodlands, besides any grassland types from moist to dry regions.[3] Their presence in the latter areas has been facilitated by the planting of trees in groves, for instance around farm homesteads.
They are vulnerable at exposed waterholes or in plantations, where they are preyed on by lanner falcons and black sparrowhawks, respectively.[2] In addition, they are preyed on by reptiles, wildcats, jackals, genets, herons, storks, eagles and barn owls.[6] Nests are vulnerable to birds, snakes and, in Cape Town, eastern grey squirrels that were introduced.
Seasonal movements are most noticeable in tropical areas, while nomadic movements occur in arid environments with limited resources.[6] They seldom occur above 2,000 metres.[4]
Habits
These doves are usually found alone or in pairs, although they do form larger flocks around roosts or sources of food and water,[3][4] sometimes comprising hundreds of birds. They are quite noisy in these groups, not only for the various calls they make throughout the day, or often into (mainly moonlit)[6] nights, but also due to the loud clatter[4] of their wings when they take flight.
Song
Their song is a loud and harsh[2]"kuk-COORRRR-uk, ..."[10] (sometimes interpreted as "how's father?"[10] or "work harder") which they may repeat ten to forty times. Less often a repeated "wuh-ka-RROOO, ..." may be given.[4] A raspy, snarling "kooorr", or "knarrrrrr", call is often given when it alights on a perch,[2] arrives at an incubating mate or chases another dove away.[6] Ring-necked doves roost in treetops during the night and forage for food on the ground by day. Peak foraging times are early morning and late afternoon,[6] and they drink mainly in the morning. When they walk on the ground, their heads bob back and forth with each small step.[5]
Food
They feed mainly on seeds (of grasses, cereal grains, lupins, milkweeds,[5] alien acacias and pines), but also on broken fruit and berries (of oaks, gums, currants and Lantana), and insects on occasion (earthworms, termites, weevils and other).[6] Other recorded food items include small sedge bulbs, fleshy succulent leaves, aloe nectar and sugary aphid secretions.[6]
They are monogamous, territorial nesters.[6] Males display by flapping up a steep gradient before spiraling down[2] with wings and tail spread out. From a perch or on the ground, the male will engage in a bowing display synchronized with a rolling crooning, “uk-carrroooo, ...”,[4] while the throat is inflated.[6] A pair will give a double coo with a long second syllable when selecting a nest site.[6] The female takes two to three days to construct the flimsy platform nest. It is made of twigs and leaf petioles that are carefully selected by the male[5] (as in other dove species) and delivered to her at the nest site.[2] The nest is placed 2 to 10 meters above the ground on a horizontal branch fork.[2] Quite often, an old nest of another species may be used.[6] Two to four pure white eggs are laid and both sexes participate in the incubation, which takes about two weeks. Chicks are fed regurgitated food by both parents[5] and fledge after about 16 days.[2][6] Several broods (up to five) may be raised in a single season.[6]
There are six subspecies.[11] They differ mainly in plumage shade, with those of dry regions being paler and greyer.[6] Western Ethiopian and South Sudanese birds are sometimes separated from S. c. tropica as S. c. electa(Madarász, 1913).
S. c. capicola – southwestern (winter rainfall) South Africa
S. c. abundaClancey, 1960 – central South Africa
S. c. damarensis(Hartlaub & Finsch, 1870) – arid interior of southern Africa
S. c. onguatiMacdonald, 1957 – western Namibia and Angola
S. c. tropica(Reichenow, 1902) – tropical and subtropical woodlands from South Africa to South Sudan
S. c. somalica(Erlanger, 1905) – northern Tanzania to Somalia and Ethiopia
The Barbary dove is perhaps a domesticated form of the African collared dove
A number of Streptopelia species are very similar in appearance, all having semi-collars and subdued plumage tones. The ring-necked dove is distinguished from its locally sympatric sister species, the African collared dove, by call, the paler bases of the tail feathers, and the grey rather than pink crown feathers.[10]
On appearance alone, it may also be confused with the Eurasian collared dove, vinaceous dove, red-eyed dove, red collared dove, African mourning dove or the Barbary dove, the last of these a popular cage bird with isolated feral populations. The red-eyed dove is generally similar, with an identical display flight.[5] It, however, has dark wine red eyes and is larger and darker altogether, with a grey belly and grey tail tips.[4] The African mourning dove has more grey about the head and pale yellow eyes.[4]
Related Research Articles
The Oriental turtle dove or rufous turtle dove is a member of the bird family Columbidae. The species has a wide native distribution range from Central Asia east across Asia to Japan. The populations show variations in the patterning of plumage and have been designated into at least six named subspecies. Populations in the higher latitudes tend to migrate south in winter, while those closer to the tropics are sedentary. Vagrants have been recorded in North America. The species is predominantly granivorous and forages on the ground.
The spotted dove or eastern spotted dove is a small and somewhat long-tailed pigeon that is a common resident breeding bird across its native range on the Indian subcontinent and in East and Southeast Asia. The species has been introduced to many parts of the world and feral populations have become established.
The laughing dove is a small pigeon that is a resident breeder in Africa, the Middle East, South Asia, and Western Australia where it has established itself in the wild after being released from Perth Zoo in 1898. This small long-tailed dove is found in dry scrub and semi-desert habitats where pairs can often be seen feeding on the ground. It is closely related to the spotted dove which is distinguished by a white and black chequered necklace. Other names include laughing turtle dove, palm dove and Senegal dove while in Asia the name little brown dove is often used.
The red-eyed dove is a dove that is widespread and common in Sub-Saharan Africa. It has been listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List since 2004.
The mourning collared dove or African mourning dove is a dove which is a widespread resident breeding bird in Africa south of the Sahara. Despite its name, it is not related to the North American mourning dove. This species is common or abundant near water. They often mingle peacefully with other doves.
The Narina trogon is a largely green and red, medium-sized, bird of the family Trogonidae. It is native to forests and woodlands of the Afrotropics. Though it is the most widespread and catholic in habitat choice of the three Apaloderma species, their numbers are locally depleted due to deforestation. Some populations are sedentary while others undertake regular movements.
The tambourine dove is a pigeon which is a widespread resident breeding bird in woodlands and other thick vegetation in Africa south of the Sahara Desert. Its range extends from Senegal east to Ethiopia and Kenya and southwards through eastern Africa to south-eastern South Africa, but it is absent from the drier areas of south-western Africa. There is a population on the Comoros Islands.
The Cape robin-chat is a small passerine bird of the Old World flycatcher family Muscicapidae. It has a disjunct range from South Sudan to South Africa.
The wattled starling is a nomadic resident bird in eastern and southern Africa. It is a species of grassland, open woodland, and cultivation.
The rufous-naped lark or rufous-naped bush lark is a widespread and conspicuous species of lark in the lightly wooded grasslands, open savannas and farmlands of the Afrotropics. Males attract attention to themselves by a bold and often repeated wing-fluttering display from a prominent perch, which is accompanied by a melodious and far-carrying whistled phrase. This rudimentary display has been proposed as the precursor to the wing-clapping displays of other bush lark species. They have consistently rufous outer wings and a short erectile crest, but the remaining plumage hues and markings are individually and geographically variable. It has a straight lower, and longish, curved upper mandible.
The black-backed puffback is a species of passerine bird in the family Malaconotidae. They are common to fairly common sedentary bushshrikes in various wooded habitats in Africa south of the equator. They restlessly move about singly, in pairs or family groups, and generally frequent tree canopies. Like others of its genus, the males puff out the loose rump and lower back feathers in display, to assume a remarkable ball-like appearance. They draw attention to themselves by their varied repertoire of whistling, clicking and rasping sounds. Their specific name cubla, originated with Francois Levaillant, who derived it from a native southern African name, where the "c" is an onomatopoeic click sound. None of the other five puffback species occur in southern Africa.
The Karoo scrub robin or Karoo robin is a species of bird in the family Muscicapidae. It is found in Lesotho, Namibia, and South Africa. Its natural habitats are dry shrubland and Mediterranean-type shrubby vegetation.
The grey-headed bushshrike, colloquially known as the ghostbird, is a species of passerine bird in the family Malaconotidae. It is widespread throughout sub-Saharan Africa, although relatively absent in Central Africa and the interior of southern Africa. It is the most widespread species of its genus, which consists of large bushshrikes with massive bills and mournful hooting calls. It occurs sparsely in a range of wooded habitats, though typically in denser vegetation within dry or moist savannah. The monogamous pairs occupy woodland with sufficient cover. They are sedentary, but will undertake limited post-breeding movements.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
