Palm pigeon
| Palm pigeon | ||||||||||
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Palm Pigeon ( Streptopelia senegalensis ) |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||
| Spilopelia senegalensis | ||||||||||
| ( Linnaeus , 1766) |
The laughing dove ( Spilopelia senegalensis , Syn. : Streptopelia senegalensis ), sometimes Senegal dove called, is a relatively small, in Africa , the Near East and South Asia live pigeon . It is naturalized in Western Australia and there are occasional prisoner refugees in Germany . As a cold-sensitive species, however, palm pigeons are not establishing themselves in temperate European climates.
In its natural range, the palm pigeon is a common species of pigeon that can also be seen regularly in towns and villages. It is not considered to be endangered in its population and is one of the pigeon species that is expanding its range.
External features
The palm pigeon reaches a body length of 26 to 28 centimeters and weighs between 100 and 120 grams. It is a little smaller than the laughing dove . Compared to this, it has shorter wings and a longer tail. There is no noticeable gender dimorphism. The females are only slightly more dull than the males on the back and coat.
The back, wings and tail are red-brown with blue-gray in the wings. Head and lower parts of the body are reddish, the neck is spotted with dark spots. The upper tail-coverts are covered in brown and gray. The belly is lighter than the upper plumage. The tail feathers are gray-brown, with the outer tail feathers at the base being dark gray-black. The ends of the tail feathers are white. The beak is black and long and narrow in relation to the head. The iris is dark brown. The feet are reddish. Young animals are generally more reddish in color.
distribution and habitat
The palm pigeon is common across almost the entire African continent. Its distribution area extends over the Middle East to India and Thailand , as well as Central Asia to northwest China. It has now been naturalized in a number of countries . Among others, it occurs in Western Australia and Turkey.
The palm pigeon is predominantly a bird of arid thorn bush savannahs. But they can also be found in a variety of different habitats, including those that have been heavily designed by humans. Palm pigeons can be seen regularly in oases , they can be found in gardens and parks as well as in villages and they can be found on agricultural land. It can also be found in cities such as Damascus or Istanbul and is often quite tame. They also use palm groves regularly.
Subspecies
The number of subspecies is seen differently depending on the author. As a rule, a distinction is made between six to eight subspecies:
- S. s. phoenicophila : Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Libya
- S. s. aegyptiaca : Egypt from the Nile Valley to south to Wadi Halfa
- S. s. senegalensis : Senegal to Ethiopia, western Arabia to Turkey, and Australia
- S. s. socotrae : Socotra
- S. s. cambayensis : eastern Arabia, Iran to India and northern to central Asia
- S. s. ermanni : Iran
- S. s. divergens : Botswana
- S. s. kirmanensis : Iran
behavior
The palm pigeon is predominantly a resident bird. In the African distribution area there seem to be populations that migrate depending on the rainy season. In the south of Africa, for example, the palm pigeons migrate west from March to April and return to the east coast between August and September. The palm pigeon eats grains and seeds, other vegetable foods and small insects. They especially like to eat millet, wheat and corn. They can often be found on the ground, looking for food in grass or cultivated land.
The palm pigeon usually builds its nest in a tree or shrub and lays two white eggs. The nest is primitive and often consists of only a few branches. Palm pigeons also use building projections as the basis for their nests. The incubation period is 12 to 14 days. The nestling period is 12 days. Palm pigeons fly up to 70 km a day to absorb water.
Keeping in human care
Palm pigeons have been kept as ornamental birds for a very long time. The London Zoo already showed palm pigeons in 1861. The first breeding in Europe is not documented. Since palm pigeons are an extremely easy pigeon species to breed, it can be assumed that the first breeding took place shortly after the first import. Palm pigeons kept in captivity and optimally nourished occasionally have up to six annual broods. Color mutations have occurred several times in birds kept in human care. For example, albinos were bred in the GDR in 1962. However, these proved to be very susceptible to disease. White and pied Senegal pigeons have also been bred by South African keepers.
supporting documents
Individual evidence
- ↑ Gibbs, p. 247
- ↑ Rösler, p. 119
- ↑ Münst, p. 130
- ↑ Gibbs, p. 247
- ↑ Rösler, p. 119
- ↑ Rösler, p. 120
- ↑ Münst, p 131
literature
- David Gibbs, Eustace Barnes and John Cox: Pigeons and Doves - A Guide to the Pigeons and Doves of the World . Pica Press, Sussex 2001, ISBN 90-74345-26-3 .
- Alois Münst and Josef Wolters: Tauben - The species of wild pigeons , 2nd expanded and revised edition, Verlag Karin Wolters, Bottrop 1999, ISBN 3-9801504-9-6 .
- Gerhard Rösler: The wild pigeons of the earth - free living, keeping and breeding . M. & H. Schaper Verlag, Alfeld-Hannover 1996, ISBN 3-7944-0184-0 .
Web links
- Videos, photos and sound recordings on Streptopelia senegalensis in the Internet Bird Collection
- Spilopelia senegalensis inthe IUCN 2013 Red List of Threatened Species . Listed by: BirdLife International, 2012. Retrieved January 4, 2014.
- Feathers of the palm pigeon