Mourning collared dove

The Mourning Collared Dove is a medium sized, stocky pigeon, up to 32 cm in length. It is often black with pale brown wings, which are broad and pointed. The head is grey and the underside is pink, giving a pale grey shading on the belly. There is a black hind neck patch edged with white. The legs and a patch of bare skin around the eye are red.

When flying, it shows dark colored flight feathers and extensive white in the tail, the latter being a distinction from the similar but larger red-eyed dove.

Sexes are similar, but immatures are duller than adults, and have scalloping on the body feathers.

• 
  S. d. perspicillata, Lake Baringo, Kenya
• 
  S. d. shelleyi, Gambia
• 
  on a nest near Lake Baringo, Kenya

The mourning collared dove's flight is quick, with the regular beats and an occasional sharp flick of the wings which are characteristic of pigeons in general.

Mourning collared doves eat grass seeds, grains and other vegetation. They are quite terrestrial, and usually forage on the ground. Unlike several other species in this genus, they are quite gregarious and often feed in groups.

The call from the Mourning Collared Dove is a deep, nasally call note that sounds along the lines of kuk-koooo-kuk. This call pattern is flat and considered a hoot.

These birds typically mate monogamously and the timing in which they mate depends on location. For example, breeding occurs from December to June in Sudan, but September through October in Chad, and in other places breeding occurs each month. After breeding, they tend to build a stick nest in low tree branch or bush, preferably closer to the ground, often a mangrove. A clutch is the term for the two white eggs that are laid. The eggs need to be incubated for fifteen days, which is done by both male and female.