Laughing Dove

Taxobox
name = Laughing Dove
status = LR/lc


regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Aves
ordo = Columbiformes
familia = Columbidae
genus = "Streptopelia"
species = "S. senegalensis"
binomial = "Streptopelia senegalensis"
binomial_authority = Linnaeus, 1766The Laughing Dove ("Streptopelia senegalensis") is a small pigeon which is a resident breeding bird in the tropics in Africa south of the Sahara, the Middle East and southern Asia east to India. In India it is also known as the Little Brown Dove. Probably as the result of stowaways from Africa or India, the bird is also found in a localised area of Western Australia - in and around Perth and Fremantle.

It is a common and widespread species in scrub, dry farmland and habitation over a good deal of its range, often becoming very tame.

This species builds a stick nest in a tree and lays two white eggs. Its flight is quick, with the regular beats and an occasional sharp flick of the wings which are characteristic of pigeons in general.

Laughing Dove is a long-tailed, slim pigeon, typically 25 centimetres (10 inches) in length. Its back, wings and tail are reddish-brown with blue-grey in the wings. In flight, the underwings are rich chestnut.

The head and underparts are pinkish, shading to whitish on the lower abdomen. There is black spotting on the throat. The legs are red. The chuckling call is a low "oo-took-took-oo-roo", with the emphasis on the "took-took". Sexes are similar, but juveniles are more rufous than adults, and have reduced throat spotting.Laughing Doves eat grass, seeds, grains, other vegetation and small insects. They are fairly terrestrial, foraging on the ground in grasslands and cultivation. They are not particularly gregarious, and are usually alone, or in pairs.

This species has recently been placed into the genus "Stigmatopelia" by some authorities following the studies of Johnson "et al." (2001).

References

* [http://www.iucnredlist.org/search/details.php/48737/all IUCN Red List]
* Barlow: "Birds of The Gambia". Wacher and Disley, ISBN 1-873403-32-1
* Grimmett: "Birds of India". Inskipp and Inskipp, ISBN 0-691-04910-6
* Johnson, Kevin P.; de Kort, Selvino; Dinwoodey, Karen, Mateman, A. C.; ten Cate, Carel; Lessells, C. M. & Clayton, Dale H. (2001): A molecular phylogeny of the dove genera "Streptopelia" and "Columba". Auk 118(4): 874-887. [http://www.inhs.uiuc.edu/~kjohnson/kpj_pdfs/Auk.2001.pdf PDF fulltext]

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