Peaceful Dove

Description:

The bird is a relatively small pigeon and varies in length from 19 to 21 centimetres (7.6 to 8.4 inches). The Peaceful Dove has a pink-grey breast with chequered grey-brown wings. Thin striations of black appear around the neck and nape area and descend down the back. The eye is greyish-white and a blue-grey ring surrounds the eye that tapers off and joins the beak/cere. The juveniles are paler and less striated. They also have a duller eye ring. The nape is similar to that of the Bar-shouldered dove in that the nape feathers are striated but differs in that the Bar-shouldered dove does not have striated throat feathers like the Peaceful Dove. Furthermore, the nape feathers are grey-brown in colour compared to the vivid copper colour seen with Bar-shouldered doves. Calls of the Peaceful Dove are high-pitched "doodle-doo", "co-co-coo" and "croorrr!".

Habitat:

The Peaceful Dove (Geopelia placida) is a pigeon native to Australia and New Guinea.

Notes:

It is closely related to the Zebra Dove of south-east Asia and the Barred Dove of eastern Indonesia. Until recently, the three were classed as a single species, Geopelia striata, known as Peaceful Dove or Zebra Dove.