Oct 22

Bird of the day

Speckled pigeon

Columba guinea

The speckled pigeon (Columba guinea), also known as the African rock pigeon or Guinea pigeon, is a pigeon that is a resident breeding bird in much of Africa south of the Sahara. It is a common and widespread species in open habitats over much of its range, although there are sizable gaps in its distribution.

It is a medium-sized pigeon, at 32–35 cm in length similar in size to rock dove and stock dove. Its back and wings are rufous, the latter heavily speckled with white spots. The rest of the upperparts and underparts are blue-grey, and the head is grey with red patches of bare skin around the eye. The neck is brownish, streaked with white, and the legs are red. The sexes are similar, but immatures are browner than adults and lack the red eye patches. The call is a loud doo-doo-doo.

Aliases

Columba guinea