Emerald-spotted Wood-Dove ( Turtur chalcospilos, family: columbidae)

Birds & Birding in the Kruger National Park South Africa. In Roberts 6 this bird was called Green-spotted Dove

emerald spotted wood dove kruger national park birds The Emerald-spotted Wood-Dove (Latin name Turtur chalcospilos) is described in Roberts Birds of Southern Africa, 7th Edition. This bird has a unique Roberts number of 358 and you will find a full description of this bird on page 287 also a picture of the Emerald-spotted Wood-Dove on page 273. The Emerald-spotted Wood-Dove belongs to the family of birds classified as columbidae. According to the Percy FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology the Emerald-spotted Wood-Dove is also known by these other names: Emerald-spotted Dove.

In the previous edition of Roberts (ie 6th edition) the Emerald-spotted Wood-Dove was called the Green-spotted Dove

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 Emerald-spotted Wood-Dove is neither Endemic or near Endemic to the Kruger National Park. It is however a common resident

In terms of distribution of the Emerald-spotted Wood-Dove in the Kruger National Park you may not see it in all areas. Emerald-spotted Wood-Dove : see above distribution map.

The Emerald-spotted Wood-Dove.

Emerald Spotted Wood Dove Kruger ParkIdentification assistance for this avian species ...

One of the first indicators to take note of when trying to identify a bird is it relative size. For example how big is the bird compared to a well known familiar bird. The Emerald-spotted Wood-Dove is an extremely small bird about half the size of a house sparrow. The height of the Emerald-spotted Wood-Dove is about 19 cms and its weight is about 65 gms

The male and female Emerald-spotted Wood-Dove have the same plumage and colours

  • Head is blue.
  • Eye is brown.
  • Bill is black.
  • Throat is white.
  • Back is brown.
  • Legs are purple.

This bird has normally proportioned leg length.

Main diet items for this bird ...

The Emerald-spotted Wood-Dove feeds on the ground mainly

Breeding and nesting habits for this bird ...

The Emerald-spotted Wood-Dove is monogamous unless its mate dies. In the event of a partner dying Turtur chalcospilos will seek out a new mate

The nesting habit of Emerald-spotted Wood-Dove is to create the nest in branches of a tree or shrub. The bird lays eggs which are cream in colour and number between 1 to 2

Habitat and flocking behaviour for this bird ...

The preferred habitats for Emerald-spotted Wood-Dove are: woodlands and arid areas

You will not see Emerald-spotted Wood-Dove in flocks. The bird prefers to act singly or in pairs.

Names of this avian species in other languages ...

Xhosa ... Ivukazana

Zulu ... isiKhombazane-sehlanze

Afrikaans ...Groenvlekduifie

German ... Bronzeflecktaube

Portuguese ... Rola-esmeraldina

French ... Tourtelette meraudine

Dutch ... Smaragdvlekduif

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

Robert's 7th edition number ... 358

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