Speckled Pigeon ( Columba guinea, family: columbidae)

Birds & Birding in the Kruger National Park South Africa. In Roberts 6 this bird was called Rock Pigeon

speckled pigeon kruger national park birds The Speckled Pigeon (Latin name Columba guinea) is described in Roberts Birds of Southern Africa, 7th Edition. This bird has a unique Roberts number of 349 and you will find a full description of this bird on page 277 also a picture of the Speckled Pigeon on page 273. The Speckled Pigeon belongs to the family of birds classified as columbidae. According to the Percy FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology the Speckled Pigeon is also known by these other names: Speckled Rock Pigeon, Cape Rock Pigeon, Guinea Pigeon, Triangular-spotted Pigeon, Rock Pigeon.

In the previous edition of Roberts (ie 6th edition) the Speckled Pigeon was called the Rock Pigeon

The map of the Kruger you see on this page shows the areas (coloured orange) where this bird has been identified. The basic information was provided by the Avian Demographic Unit based at UCT and I created the maps from that information ... the green dots show the locations of the various Kruger National Park Rest Camps

The Speckled Pigeon is neither Endemic or near Endemic to the Kruger National Park. It is however a common resident

In terms of distribution of the Speckled Pigeon in the Kruger National Park you may not see it in all areas. Speckled Pigeon : see above distribution map.

The Speckled Pigeon.

Identification assistance for this avian species ...

The Speckled Pigeon is a bird a little bit bigger than a starling. The height of the Speckled Pigeon is about 33 cms and its weight is about 350 gms

The male and female Speckled Pigeon have the same plumage and colours

  • Head is grey.
  • Eye is yellow.
  • Bill is black.
  • Throat is grey, brown.
  • Back is maroon.
  • Legs are purple.

This bird has normally proportioned leg length.

Main diet items for this bird ...

The Speckled Pigeon feeds on the ground mainly

Fruits

Seeds

Breeding and nesting habits for this bird ...

The Speckled Pigeon is monogamous unless its mate dies. In the event of a partner dying Columba guinea will seek out a new mate

The nesting habit of Speckled Pigeon is to create the nest in branches of a tree or shrub. The bird lays eggs which are white in colour and number between 1 to 3

Habitat and flocking behaviour for this bird ...

The preferred habitats for Speckled Pigeon are: mountainous regions

You can see Speckled Pigeon in flocks. The bird will often also be seen singly.

Names of this avian species in other languages ...

Xhosa ... Ivukuthu

Zulu ... iJuba/iVukuthu

Afrikaans ...Kransduif

German ... Guineataube

Portuguese ... Pombo-malhado

French ... Pigeon roussard

Dutch ... Gespikkelde Duif

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For in-depth birding information please refer to these authoritative avian references ...

Robert's 7th edition number ... 349

The main reference source for this data was "Roberts - Birds of Southern Africa, 7th Edition" . Other references were "Newmans Birds of the Kruger Park" by Keith Newman published circa 1980 . Names in foreign languages were obtained from the Percy Fitzpatrick Institute of African Ornithology, University of Cape Town website , www.fitzpatrick.uct.ac.za