Laughing Dove
Spilopelia senegalensis· 鸠鸽科(1 photos)
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Laughing Dove
25-27 cm. Small reddish fawn dove with grey-washed head/neck and black-speckled, deep-buff band across lower throat; shoulders and wings blue-grey; outer tail feathers have much longer white tips than Spotted Turtle-Dove. Juvenile: duller, plainer. Singles, pairs; small flocks after breeding. Tame: walks quietly, hunched. Flight swift, level, showing prominent white tail corners. Display flight like Spotted Turtle-Dove.
- Other name
- Senegal Dove or Turtle-Dove.
- Voice
- bubbling, laughing 'coo-oo, coocoo'.
- Habitat
- urban areas, country towns, parks, gardens, railyards, roadsides, farms and farmyards, especially in WA wheatbelt.
- Breeding
- Sept.-March, any month after rain.
- Nest
- smaller than Spotted Turtle-Dove.
- Eggs
- 2; white.
- Range & Status
- Africa to India: introduced Perth (WA), from 1898; now through WA wheatbelt, e. to c. Southern Cross; n. to beyond Shark Bay; s. to Albany; populations Kalgoorlie, Esperance. Follows spilled grain along roads, rail routes (Blakers et al, 1984). Also Rottnest, Garden Is. Common; sedentary.
