Peaceful Dove
Geopelia placida
Columbiforme Order – Columbidae Family
BIOMETRICS:
Length: 19-21 cm
Weight: 50-60 g
LONGEVITY: Up to 14 years
DESCRIPTION:
Peaceful Dove is native to Australia and New Guinea.
Adult has brownish-grey upperparts, with dark brown barring. Hind neck and upper mantle are finely barred with black. Wings have greyer coverts. Long tail is grey-brown on central feathers, and outer are black tipped white, and graduated.
Underparts are pinkish-white. Chin and throat are pale grey, but foreneck and breast are more pinkish-grey, with fine black subterminal bands, giving scaled effect on breast.
Underwing coverts are dark chestnut, and flight feathers are grey. Undertail feathers are white with black base.
Head shows pale grey forehead. Crown and nape are soft grey with indistinct dark barring. Bill is grey with bluish base and blue cere. Eyes are often pale bluish-white, but sometimes, they can be yellowish. Eye-ring is pale blue. Legs and feet are pinkish-red.
Both sexes are similar.
PROTECTION / THREATS / STATUS:
Peaceful Dove suffered some decline in coastal range, dues to human developments, but clearing of rainforest has been beneficial for this species.
However, Peaceful Dove is common and widespread in its range.
Fr: Géopélie placide
All : Friedenstäubchen
Esp : Tortolita Plácida
Ital : Tortora zebrata di Gould
Nd : Gould-zebraduif
Photographs by Patrick Ingremeau
His website: TAMANDUA
Text by Nicole Bouglouan
Sources:
PIGEONS AND DOVES by David Gibbs, Eustace Barnes and John Cox - Pica Press Sussex - ISBN: 1873403607
HANDBOOK OF THE BIRDS OF THE WORLD vol 4 by Josep del Hoyo-Andrew Elliott-Jordi Sargatal - Lynx Edicions - ISBN: 8487334229
Birds in backyards (Birds Australia and Australian Museum)
Wikipedia (Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia)
Juvenile resembles adults, with duller barring on neck, and rufous markings on scapulars and wings. Underparts are orange-buff instead pinkish, with indistinct breast pattern.
We find four subspecies:
G.p. placida, from North Australia;
G.p. papua, from New Guinea and Aru Islands;
G.p. tranquila, from southern Australia;
G.p. clelandi, from Pilbara region in Western Australia.
These four subspecies can slightly differ in colour of plumage, darker or paler than nominate race.
VOICE: SOUNDS BY XENO-CANTO
Peaceful Dove utters high-pitched, musical “doodle-doo” often repeated. It also utters a loud “coo-uc”. During displays, such as bowing, male gives single “coo”, or soft “ur-coo-coo”.
HABITAT:
Peaceful Dove lives in woodlands, savannahs and scrublands with scattered trees. In drier areas, it is found mainly near vegetation along watercourses. We can also find it in urban and cultivated areas.
RANGE:
Peaceful Dove lives in Australia, except southern Victoria, south-western Australia and Tasmania.
This species occurs in the South of New Guinea, and some local populations lives in the North and on the Aru Islands.
BEHAVIOUR:
Peaceful Dove forages mainly on the ground. It is often seen in pairs or in small groups, but in dry season, these birds gather in large flocks near water. They rest and roost in trees and bushes.
During breeding season, male performs some displays. It follows the female on the ground while it raises head and breast. Sometimes, it raises and fans its tail while bowing, and giving its “coo” calls. It can also display on branch or fence. Flight display includes steeply flight, followed by glide to the perch with fanned tail.
Urban birds are not so shy. They often feed near humans and allow close approach, but they fly off very quickly in nearby bushes or trees if alarmed.
Peaceful Dove is sedentary, with only some seasonal movements in the South.
FLIGHT:
Peaceful Dove performs fast and direct flight, often for short distances.
REPRODUCTION:
Breeding season occurs in the warm months in the South, and mostly in the rainy season in the north. But it can occur also at any time in the North.
Nest is built in trees or shrubs. Both adults prepare a loose platform with twigs, grasses and rootlets, about one to 12 metres above the ground.
Female lays 2 whitish eggs. Incubation lasts about two weeks, by both parents. Chicks are fed by both adults with “crop milk” and also small seeds.
Young fledge about 16 to 17 days after hatching.
This species often produces several broods in the year, sometimes up to eight.
DIET:
Peaceful Dove feeds mainly on the ground, searching for small seeds of several plants, and eating sometimes small invertebrates. This species forages in open areas, roadsides, parks and gardens. Peaceful Dove needs water each day, twice or more.
