Africa Wild Bird Book

[Peter Connan]

359. Tambourine Dove Turtur tympanistria (Witborsduifie)
Order: Columbiformes. Family: Columbidae

Tambourine Dove Turtur tympanistria.jpg (31.14 KiB) Viewed 1448 times

Description
The tambourine dove is a small plump pigeon, typically 22 cm in length. The white face and underparts of male are diagnostic. The tambourine dove’s flight is fast and agile, and it tends to stay quite low when flushed. In flight it shows chestnut primary flight feathers and under wings.
Adult male: Forehead and area around eyes white, loral stripe black. Hind crown, ear coverts, nape and back ashy brown; lower back crossed by 2 indistinct blackish bands, with paler band between. Central pair of rectrices dark reddish brown; 2 outer pairs ashy, with subterminal dark grey to black bar. Remainder basally dark brown, distal third blackish. Upper wing coverts brown. Primaries and outer secondaries cinnamon, edged and tipped brown. Central and inner secondaries brown; 2 iridescent blackish-purple spots on wing formed by metallic markings on some inner coverts and secondaries. Underwing cinnamon. Throat to vent white; undertail coverts and flanks ashy brown. Bill purplish, tipped dark brown or black. Eyes brown. Legs and feet reddish purple.
Adult female: As male, but with lower throat and breast washed grey.
The juvenile resembles the female but has chestnut fringes to the feathers of the back, breast and flanks. Brown above, most feathers transversely barred rufous and brown; breast grey in both sexes. Even in these plumages, this species is paler below than other small African doves.

Distribution
Occurs across sub-Saharan Africa, excluding arid areas. Its range extends from Senegal east to Ethiopia and Kenya and southwards through eastern Africa to south-eastern South Africa, but it is absent from the drier areas of south-western Africa. There is a population on the Comoros Islands. It is locally common in Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Swaziland, the Limpopo province and large areas of the east coast of South Africa, from KwaZulu-Natal to the Western Cape.



Habitat
The tambourine dove (Turtur tympanistria) is a pigeon which is a widespread resident breeding bird in woodlands and other thick vegetation in Africa south of the Sahara Desert. It generally prefers riverine woodland and evergreen forest, often occupying coastal forest in the Western and Eastern Cape.

Diet
It eats a variety of fruit, seeds and invertebrates, usually foraging on the ground.

Breeding
Both sexes construct the nest, which is a fragile saucer made of twigs, leaves and petioles. The male collects material and hands it to the female, who then incorporates it to the structure. It is typically placed among the tangled branches of a creeper, in a bush or tree, often in vegetation next to rivers. Egg-laying season is from about September-May. It lays 1-2 cream-coloured eggs, which are incubated mainly by the female for about 17-20 days. The chicks are fed about four times daily by both parents, who regurgitate food eaten previously. They are brooded constantly for the first few days of their lives, staying in the nest for about 19-22 days.

Call
The call of this bird is a persistently repeated du-du-du-du-du.

Status
Fairly common resident. It is usually solitary, but is sometimes seen in family groups or with lemon doves.

[Peter Connan]

359. Tambourine Dove Turtur tympanistria

© Peter Connan

© 100ponder
Tambourine Doves nesting in a garden in Amanzimtoti, KwaZulu-Natal

© 100ponder
The male Tambourine dove is the one with a pure white chest and the female is the one with the "smoky" chest.

© 100ponder

© 100ponder
A nest was constructed and the male would sit during the days and round-about sunset the female would take over until sunrise the next day.
Soon the small chicks of approx 3 - 5 days old were visible and later-on when the chicks were too large to be covered by a parent they would be clearly visible until eventually their demand for food forced the parents to leave them alone for a while to go foraging.


Links:
Species text Sabap1
Sabap2
Newman's Birds of Southern Africa
Sasol

[Toko]

356. Namaqua Dove Oena capensis (Namakwaduifie)
Order: Columbiformes. Family: Columbidae

Namaqua Dove Oena capensis.jpg (43.68 KiB) Viewed 1446 times

Description
22 cm in length with a 28-33 cm wingspan, and weighing 40 g. The Namaqua Dove is the smallest dove in the region and the only one with a long black graduated tail. Both sexes have small indigo-blue wing-spots. In flight combination of long tail and cinnamon flight feathers diagnostic.
The males have black faces, throats and chests; the rest of the underparts are white and the head, nape and upperparts are grey-brown. Eyes are brown, and legs and feet are purple. Yellow to yellow-orange bill with purple base very evident from close. In flight the long tail, combined with the white underparts and chestnut flight feathers, render this bird unmistakable.
The female differs in that it has a buffy-grey face, and the chin, throat and breast are light brown and has a red-based grey-brown bill. Females have slightly shorter tails.
Young birds are dark blotched on the wings and shoulders, and lack the black face.

Distribution
Occurs across sub-Saharan Africa, absent only from the lowland forests of West Africa and the DRC. In southern Africa it is widespread and common, occurring across Namibia, Botswana, parts of Mozambique, Zimbabwe and South Africa.



Habitat
Most common in Acacia savanna, arid shrublands, agricultural areas, farmyards, rural gardens and occasionally alien tree stands.

Diet
Eats almost exclusively seeds of grasses, sedges and weeds, doing most of its foraging on the ground, especially on gravel or on the edges of roads.

Breeding
Namaqua Doves are monogamous. Both sexes build the nest, which is fragile saucer made of rootlets, twigs and petioles, with the inside lined with grass and rootlets. It is typically placed about one metre above ground in an Acacia sapling, shrub, dead branch or occasionally a grass tuft. Egg-laying season is year-round, peaking from about July to December. The female lays one or two white eggs, which are incubated for 13 to 16 days. In a typical pigeon manner, the parents share the duty of incubating: the female at night and early morning, and the male from mid-morning till late afternoon. The young leave the nest after 15 to 18 days.

Call
A mournful distinctive, hollow sounding bisyllabic hoot, almost flufftail-like; the first note is sharp, the second longer. kuh-whooo, repeated frequently. Listen to Bird Call.

Status
Widespread and common resident; highly nomadic and found singly, in pairs or small loose flocks. The Namaqua dove is classified as Least Concern (LC) on the IUCN Red List.

[Toko]

356. Namaqua Dove Oena capensis

© Toko
Female & male, Aus, Namibia

© BluTuna
Male

© Pumbaa
Male, Shingwedzi causeway, Kruger National Park

© leachy

© Dewi
Female

© Mel
Female

© Dewi

Links:
Sabap2
Species Text Sabap1
Pigeons and Doves: A Guide to the Pigeons and Doves of the World. David Gibbs
Whitfield, M. & McKechnie, A. 2012. Chilling in the Kalahari: Namaqua Doves keep their cool. African Birdlife 1(1):10.
Newman's birds of Southern Africa
ARKivve
Oiseaux net

[nan]

361. African Green Pigeon Treron calvus (Papegaaiduif)
Order: Columbiformes. Family: Columbidae


Kruger National Park

Description
25-28 cm. When seen clambering about in a tree, the immediate impression is of a green, parrot-like bird. Adult has yellow-green head, neck and breast, purple shoulder-patch on green wings, and yellow belly with dark centres to undertail coverts and chestnut vent.
Juvenile has olive-yellow shoulder patches.

Distribution
Across sub-Saharan Africa, extending south to southern Africa, where it is fairly common in northern Namibia, northern and eastern Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Swaziland and eastern South Africa.

Habitat
Forests, bushveld, savanna; always associated with fruiting trees, especially figs.

Diet
It mainly eats fruit, as well as very small quantities of seeds, flesh and even dry blood! It forages like a parrot, clambering around on slender branches in the canopies of trees, rarely coming coming down to the ground.

Breeding
The female builds the nest using material gathered by the male, consisting of a flat platform of twigs and leaves, typically placed in the fork of a tree. Egg-laying season is mainly August-January. It lays 1-2 eggs, which are incubated by both sexes for about 13-14 days. The chicks stay in the nest for 11-13 days.

Call
High-pitched, fluted, whistling trills, followed by low, croaking, frog-like grunts. Listen to Bird Call.

Status
Common resident, subjet to local movements.

[nan]

361. African Green Pigeon Treron calvus (Papegaaiduif)





© BluTuna

© BluTuna

© Bushcraft
Feeding on Jackal-berrie

Links:
Species text Sabap1
Sabap2

[Toko]

ORDER MUSOPHAGIFORMES
Turacos are pleasant looking birds with erectile crests (except C. cristata) and short rounded wings. They are found only in Africa south of the Sahara where they can be found in a variety of habitats.
Traditionally, this group has been allied with the cuckoos in the order Cuculiformes, but the Sibley-Ahlquist taxonomy raises this group to a full order Musophagiformes. There are 23 species of Turacos in one family (Musophagidae) and 5 genera - Corythaeola, Corythaixoides, Crinifer, Tauraco and Musophaga.
Musophagids are medium-sized arboreal birds endemic to sub-Saharan Africa, where they live in forests, woodland and savanna. Their flight is weak, but they run quickly through the tree canopy. They feed mostly on fruits and to a lesser extent on leaves, buds, and flowers, occasionally taking small insects, snails, and slugs. Contrary to what the names might suggest, they generally do not eat bananas or plantains and indeed wild-living musophagids do not seem to use Musa as food at all.
They are gregarious birds that do not migrate. Many species are noisy, with the go-away-birds being especially noted for their piercing alarm calls, which alert other fauna to the presence of predators or hunters; their common name refers to this. Musophagids build large stick nests in trees, and lay 2 or 3 eggs. The young are born with thick down and open, or nearly-open, eyes.
They have a unique foot arrangement. Their feet are described as semi-zygodactylous because the fourth toe points out sideways and can be pointed forwards or backwards depending on the bird's needs. Turacos are adequate, though not expert flyers, though they are very agile on their feet and happily run around in the vegetation. Turacos are noisy and sociable birds, normally found in small flocks. They are primarily herbivores, feeding on fruits and seeds, though they will take insects an other invertebrates when the opportunity offers.
The plumage of Go-away-birds and plantain-eaters is mainly grey and white. Turacos are colourful birds and two unique pigments occur in Turaco feathers. In the genera Tauraco and Musophaga the secondaries have the red colour from the pigment called turacin, while some forest species have a unique green pigment called turacoverdin.
In some parts of Africa, forest Turacos are the most colourful birds around, but are often not easy to see. They rarely come to the ground, spending their lives high in the trees. Those species known as Plantain Eaters and Go-away birds are much more easily seen as they inhabit more open country.
The Go-away bird is so named because of its habit of sitting atop a bush and calling loudly Go-awa-a whenever a hunter comes near. Plantain Eaters, however, do not seem to spend much time eating plantains.
Nests are made of twigs and placed low in the vegetation. The eggs are of various colours and normally 2 or 3 are laid and incubated by the female only for 18 days. The young are born altricial, meaning that they are naked and helpless. They are fed on regurgitated fruit for about 4 weeks, by which time they are able to fly and forage for themselves. Like the Hoatzin, the young have a wing claw to help them scramble around the treetops.
Courtship generally involves fluttering the wings to display the bright colours, raising and lowering the crest and flicking the tail, followed by the male bringing a food offering to the female.

Links:
https://www.eaza.net/assets/Uploads/CCC ... proved.pdf

[Toko]

Species indigenous to southern Africa:

ORDER MUSOPHAGIFORMES
Family Musophagidae (Turacos)
Tauraco livingstonii Livingstone's Turaco
Tauraco schalowi Schalow's Turaco
Tauraco corythaix Knysna Turaco 370
Tauraco porphyreolophus Purple-crested Turaco 371
Musophaga rossae Ross's Turaco 372
Corythaixoides concolor Grey Go-away-bird 373

[Toko]

370.1 Livingstone’s Turaco Tauraco livingstonii (Mosambikloerie)
ORDER MUSOPHAGIFORMES. Family: Musophagidae

Tauraco livingstonii.jpg (11.61 KiB) Viewed 1428 times

Description
40 cm. A green Turaco that appears at lower elevations than the Knysna Turaco where their ranges overlap. It has a longer, more pointed crest and slightly darker back. Tail is dark green, not bluish.
The red bill is short with a decurved upper mandible. The eye is brown with deep red eye ring, short white line above and a longer one below and behind the red-ringed eyes. It has a dark blue-green tail and the wing coverts are olive green. The primary flight feathers are bright red, conspicuous in flight, but difficult to see on the folded wing. It has a tall (62-72 mm), pointed crest, which is green, and tipped with white.
Females are generally slighter in appearance than males. Immatures like subdued adults, often with less red in wings.
Similar Species: Similar to Knysna Turaco, which has a shorter, rounded crest.

Distribution
Occurs from Tanzania and Malawi to southern Africa, where it is fairly common in Zimbabwe's eastern highlands, central and southern Mozambique and KwaZulu-Natal.



Habitat
It generally prefers Afromontane evergreen forest, riverine forest and thickets.

Taxonomy
A member of the T. persa superspecies. Formerly treated as conspecific with T. schalowi and T. corythaix, but vocal differences and cytogenetic researches point to specific recognition. Three subspecies recognized.
Subspecies and Distribution:
T. l. reichenowi - Nguru and Uluguru Mts SE to Dabaga and Njombe Highlands, Tanzania.
T. l. cabanisi - coastal lowlands of Tanzania S of R Mligasi through Mozambique to NE Zululand.
T. l. livingstonii - highlands E of the Rift in Malawi and adjacent N Mozambique, S to E Zimbabwe (Inyanga to Mt Selinda).
Small disjunt population in E Brundi and W Tanzania not racially assigned.

Movements and migrations
Resident and largely sedentary, although it may make local movements in response to the availability of fruiting trees.

Diet
Mainly eats fruit, supplemented with other plant matter, doing most of its foraging in the tree canopy or occasionally in the understorey of fruiting trees.

Breeding
Monogamous, territorial solitary nester, although the structure of the nest has never been recorded.
Egg-laying season is from August-February, peaking from October-January; it typically lays two eggs.

Call
The call is a kow-kow-kow, similar to that of Knysna Turaco but is deeper and slower.

Status
Not threatened. Locally common resident.

[Toko]

Livingstone’s Turaco Tauraco livingstonii

© Duke

© Duke
St Lucia, KwaZulu-Natal


© Duke
St Lucia, KwaZulu-Natal

Links:
Sabap2: http://sabap2.adu.org.za/species_info.p ... #menu_left
http://www.biodiversityexplorer.org/bir ... stonii.htm