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Laughing Dove

(Streptopelia [Spilopelia] senegalensis)
: "Palm Dove", "Senegal Dove", "Little Brown Dove"
Size: 23-26 cm; wing span 40-45 cm
Weight: 100 g (average)

Similar species

Description

Classification

Distribution

Sightings

Photos

Breeding

Nest

Eggs

Behaviour

Food

Call/s

Physical description

Click here for physical description of this species Click here for a physical description

Laughing Doves are small, slender doves with a long tail. The separation of the sexes is usually easiest by studying their behaviour, rather than by appearance/morphology, although females are visibly a bit plainer than males. The head, neck and chest are almost uniformly greyish-pink to greyish-brown; only the lores, chin and ear coverts are lighter in colour than the rest of the head. Their most prominent feature is a black and ochre gorget (band on the front of the lower neck to upper breast). The back, wing coverts and uppertail are more grey, with less of a pinkish hue. The sides of the tail show white edges; the belly, vent and undertail are white. They have comparatively big eyes with dark irises. The bill is grey; the legs and feet are pinkish-grey.

Taxonomy, classification

See Laughing Dove at Wikipedia .

Range, habitat

Click here for information on habitat and range

The overall distribution of this species can be assessed based on sighting reports submitted by birdwatchers to the ebird.org website. The global distribution of the Laughing Dove is available HERE . There are several races of Laughing Doves, which - taken together - populate an area spanning from much of the African continent (except the Sahara desert and the Congo basin) via parts of Asia Minor and the Middle East towards Arabia and - through Iraq, Iran and Pakistan - on into southern central Asia and all of the Indian subcontinent. There is a significant introduced population in Western Australia.

On the Arabian peninsula Laughing Doves, race "cambayensis"(?), are found in a wide near-coastal margin all around Arabia. Especially on the western side of Saudi Arabia they penetrate deep into the interior of the peninsula. Laughing Doves are common throughout Oman; the only area where they are not found is the true desert in the border region with Saudi Arabia.

Laughing Doves are very versatile in their choice of habitat, as long as there are shrubs or trees available for nesting and seeds to feed on. They are very tolerant of the presence of humans (they can become hand-tame) and most nests are found close to human habitation. We have seen them in both urban environments and in acacia-dominated semi-desert country.

Sightings

Click here for sighting information

Race "cambayensis"(?)

In the timeframe August 2009 to May 2010 we saw many Laughing Doves, race "cambayensis"(?), in various locations along the North coast of Oman, in particular on the Campus of Sultan Qaboos University, near Muscat, where they are abundant.

Photos

Race "cambayensis"(?)

ADULT

MALE

Pair of Laughing Doves; male on the right, displaying to the female on the left - note the male's more prominent gorget
[Campus of Sultan Qaboos University, near Muscat, May 2010]

FEMALE

Close-up frontal view of a female Laughing Dove
[Campus of Sultan Qaboos University, near Muscat, May 2010]

Lateral view of a (probably female) Laughing Dove
[Campus of Sultan Qaboos University, near Muscat, March 2010]

Dorsal view of a Laughing Dove
[Campus of Sultan Qaboos University, near Muscat, November 2009]

Laughing Dove snoozing on a lattice screen
[Campus of Sultan Qaboos University, near Muscat, November 2009]

Here a Laughing Dove going for a bath
[Campus of Sultan Qaboos University, near Muscat, November 2009]

First a bit of a wing stretch...
[Campus of Sultan Qaboos University, near Muscat, November 2009]

... hmmm, spectators? Nosy House Sparrow! Oh, well...
[Campus of Sultan Qaboos University, near Muscat, November 2009]

Never mind! Laughing Dove in the water
[Campus of Sultan Qaboos University, near Muscat, November 2009]

Laughing Dove sleeping in a tree

Breeding information

Breeding season: Mar - Aug(?) Eggs: 2 Incubation period: 13 - 15 days Fledging age: 14 - 16 days

The length of the breeding season depends on geographic latitude and can start in February in southern parts of the range. Several broods can be raised in a particularly successful season.

Nest

Type: Rudimentary basket Material: Twigs Height above ground: 1.5 - 5(?) m

The photos below show a nest, with eggs, found in mid May 2010, when conditions near Muscat were getting hot (40 C) and dry. Trees in wadis that had blossomed earlier were clearly losing their foliage and were drying; difficult conditions to raise chicks, because the nest was relatively easy to spot.

The usual basic affair called a dove's nest, here a Laughing Dove's, found inside a prickly acacia tree
[Campus of Sultan Qaboos University, near Muscat, May 2010]

Eggs

Size: 24 x 18 mm Colour: White Shape: Oval

Closer look at the two white eggs in the Laughing Dove's nest shown above
[Campus of Sultan Qaboos University, near Muscat, May 2010]

Behaviour

Male Laughing Dove, right, trying to impress a female, left, by displaying to her and cooing
[Campus of Sultan Qaboos University, near Muscat, November 2009]

Food, Diet

As all pigeons and doves, Laughing Doves are strictly vegetarian. To the best of our knowledge they feed exclusively on seeds. Although in part living in (semi-)arid environments, Laughing Doves are highly dependent on water.

Laughing Dove approaching a pond for a drink
[Campus of Sultan Qaboos University, near Muscat, September 2009]

Lateral view of a Laughing Dove drinking
[Campus of Sultan Qaboos University, near Muscat, September 2009]

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