Ring-necked Dove | |
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Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Order: | Columbiformes |
Family: | Columbidae |
Genus: | Streptopelia |
Species: | Streptopelia capicola |
The Ring-necked Dove (Streptopelia capicola) is a bird in the family Columbidae. This bird frequently escapes from captivity, and feral populations have become established in some cities in the southern United States. It is closely related, and similar in appearance, to the collared dove.
Description[]
It is a dove that looks similar to the Eurasian Collared Dove, but has a different cooing vocalization, darker primaries, greyer plumage, longer tail, and more conspicuous white on the neck. It measures about 30 cm in length with a mass of 140 g.
Voice[]
Their cooing is a loud and harsh “kuk-COORRRR-uk”, which they may repeat ten to forty times. Less often, a repeated “wuh-ka-RROOO” may be given. A raspy, snarling “kooorr” or “knarrrrrr” call is often given when it perches on a perch, arrives at an incubating mate or chases another dove away.
Behavior[]
Ring-necked Doves are usually found alone or in pairs, although they do form larger flocks around roosts or sources of food and water, sometimes comprising hundreds of birds.
Feeding[]
They feed mainly on seeds (of grasses, cereal grains, lupins, milkweeds, 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). Other recorded food items include small sedge bulbs, fleshy succulent leaves, aloe nectar and sugary aphid secretions.
Nesting and Breeding[]
They are monogamous, territorial nesters that breed at all times of the year. Males display by flapping up a steep gradient before spiraling down 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 coo while the throat is inflated. A pair will give a double coo with a long second syllable when selecting a nest site.
The nest is a small platform of twigs, grass, roots and sometimes pine needles, usually about 15 cm wide. Ring-necked Doves also use nests of other birds, such as other doves and pigeons, egrets, thrushes and sparrows. They usually lay 2 creamy-white eggs in a clutch, which are incubated for 15 days. The males incubate the eggs during the day, while the female incubates at night. The chicks are ready to leave the nest after 14 days, and the adults are ready to breed again a week later. The male will continue to feed the young birds after the next eggs are laid.
Distribution and Habitat[]
This dove is a widespread and a commonly abundant bird in the bush, savannah, farmlands, and woodlands of southern and eastern Africa.