Bulletin 338 - South Africa #15 - Part 1 - Doves, Woodpeckers, Rollers, Bee-eaters, others

I had an amazing 2 week trip to South Africa and scored almost 280 new species of birds as well as fantastic mammals and a few reptiles. My guide Casper Badenhorst was outstanding. You can see his web site here. He can be contacted through the web site or if you want his email it is info@birdingandwildlifesafaris.com. I recommend him highly as he showed me so many rare birds and animals. I will use him again when I go to Southern Africa.

Pigeons and doves are a huge family (333 species). I photographed 10 new species on the trip. The 9" Laughing Dove (Spilopelia senegalensi) is a brownish dove with black and orange spotted breast and dark eye.

Laughing Dove

The 13" Red-eyed Dove (Streptopelia semitorquata) is pink with brownish wings and a black collar on the back of the neck and of course a red eye, and red facial skin.

Red-eyed Dove

The 10.5" Ring-necked Dove (Streptopelia capicola) is a grayish dove with a black collar.

Ring-necked Dove
AKA Cape Turtle Dove

The 11" Mourning Collared Dove (Streptopelia decipiens) is rufous below and also with a red eye and black collar, but no red facial skin.

Mourning Collared Dove

The 7.5" Emerald-Spotted Wood Dove (Turtur chalcospilos) is a brown dove with a gray head and 2 iridescent green wing patches.

Emerald-Spotted Wood Dove

The 8" male Tambourine Dove (Turtur tympanistria) is brown above and pure white below.

Tambourine Dove

The 10" Lemon Dove (Columba larvata) is a reddish-brown dove with gray wings and red eye.

Lemon Dove

The 13" Speckled Pigeon (Columba guinea) is gray with a streaked breast and brown wings with many white spots.

Speckled Pigeon

The 16" African Olive Pigeon (Columba arquatrix) seems to be inappropriately named unless he eats olives. It is purple with white spots and yellow eye ring, bill and feet.

African Olive Pigeon

The last is the 10.5" African Green Pigeon (Treron calvus) is mostly green with a white eye and bicolored bill.

African Green Pigeon

I photographed 4 woodpeckers for the trip and caught a glimpse of a 5th species. The 9" male Bennett's Woodpecker (Campethera bennettii) has a striped back and spotted underside with a red crown and red malar stripe.

Bennett's Woodpecker - male

Continue to Part 2.