Dusky Turtle Dove

About the Dusky Turtle Dove

The dusky turtle dove or pink-breasted turtle dove (Streptopelia lugens) is a species of bird in the family Columbidae. The dusky turtle dove is a very dark or slaty-grey dove, generally 28–30 centimetres long, and weighs 120–205 g; the males (140–205 g) slightly heavier than the females (120–190 g).

It has a grey face slightly paler than the body, conspicuous black patches on sides of the neck, and wing coverts and tertials with pale brown or rufous edges. Its eye is orange or orange-yellow with a purplish eye-ring. Its bill is purplish slate-grey. Its legs are red. Juvenile birds are paler and browner than adults.

Dusky turtle dove is monotypic, with no subspecies described. Its closest relative is the Adamawa turtle dove S. hypopyrrha, which replaces it in West Africa; that species is slightly larger (30–31 cm) with a paler silvery-grey head and orange-toned belly; the two were formerly often considered conspecific. These two together are then most closely related to the European turtle dove S. turtur, which breeds much further north but winters in the same area; that species is much paler and more orange-toned overall. Wikipedia →