The diamond dove (''Geopelia cuneata'') is a resident

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweig ...

in Australia. The

dove Columbidae () is a bird family consisting of doves and pigeons. It is the only family in the order Columbiformes. These are stout-bodied birds with short necks and short slender bills that in some species feature fleshy ceres. They primarily ...

predominantly exists in areas near water but which are lightly

arid A region is arid when it severely lacks available water, to the extent of hindering or preventing the growth and development of plant and animal life. Regions with arid climates tend to lack vegetation and are called xeric or desertic. Most ...

semi-arid A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of semi- ...

in nature, being Central, West and Northern Australia. They are one of Australia's smallest pigeons along with the

peaceful dove The peaceful dove (''Geopelia placida'') is a pigeon native to Australia and New Guinea. The peaceful dove is closely related to the zebra dove of south-east Asia and the barred dove of eastern Indonesia. Until recently, the three were classed as ...

. They have been spotted occasionally in Southern Australia in parks and gardens when the centre of Australia is very dry.

Taxonomy and etymology

English ornithologist John Latham first described the diamond dove in 1801. The common name "diamond" is a reference to the white speckles on its wings.

Description

They are small pigeons with a length of 19 to 21 centimeters or 9 to 11 inches. Regardless of sex, they have white spots and black edges on their

wing A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is e ...

s, red eyes and orange eye-rings. The sexes look similar except the female's eye ring is less vivid and has more of a brown colour to the plumage. The male's head, neck, and

breast The breast is one of two prominences located on the upper ventral region of a primate's torso. Both females and males develop breasts from the same embryological tissues. In females, it serves as the mammary gland, which produces and sec ...

are light blue-grey. The

bill Bill(s) may refer to: Common meanings * Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States) * Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature * Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer * Bill, a bird or animal's beak Plac ...

is a dark grey colour. The

abdomen The abdomen (colloquially called the belly, tummy, midriff, tucky or stomach) is the part of the body between the thorax (chest) and pelvis, in humans and in other vertebrates. The abdomen is the front part of the abdominal segment of the to ...

is a creamy colour while the back and

tail The tail is the section at the rear end of certain kinds of animals’ bodies; in general, the term refers to a distinct, flexible appendage to the torso. It is the part of the body that corresponds roughly to the sacrum and coccyx in mammal ...

is a brown-grey colour. The

leg A leg is a weight-bearing and locomotive anatomical structure, usually having a columnar shape. During locomotion, legs function as "extensible struts". The combination of movements at all joints can be modeled as a single, linear element ca ...

s and feet are pink. The juveniles have a light grey bill; the iris and eye ring is fawn in colour; the feet and legs are grey; the breast is grey and does not possess any white spots on their wings. Regardless of its astoundingly small size (weighing only about 35 g), it has a great tolerance to high heat levels due to adaptations in body temperature, metabolism, respiration, water balance, and behaviour.

Behaviour

The diamond dove is often seen on the ground, where it runs with a waddling gait. Its flight is strong, direct, and sometimes undulating. The wings can make a

whistl Whistl (formerly TNT Post UK) is a postal delivery company based in Marlow, Buckinghamshire, England. The company primarily competes (and in some instances partners) with UK Mail, UPS, Parcelforce, DHL, Evri, Royal Mail and Yodel. Accordi ...

ing "frrr" noise when flying. Diamond doves tend to be seen in pairs or small groups feeding off the ground. They feed off

seed A seed is an embryonic plant enclosed in a protective outer covering, along with a food reserve. The formation of the seed is a part of the process of reproduction in seed plants, the spermatophytes, including the gymnosperm and angiospe ...

mostly from

grass Poaceae () or Gramineae () is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos and the grasses of natural grassland and species cultivated in lawns a ...

es. They will also eat

ant Ants are eusocial insects of the family Formicidae and, along with the related wasps and bees, belong to the order Hymenoptera. Ants evolved from vespoid wasp ancestors in the Cretaceous period. More than 13,800 of an estimated total of ...

s. The doves tend to breed after rain but mostly in spring in Southern Australia. Nests are usually built from interwoven grasses and/or twigs, and are fragile in construction. Two white eggs are usually laid and incubated for 13 to 14 days. Their chicks are fast to grow, and are usually fully feathered and flying by two weeks. They are known to have a variety of calls. The calls sound mournful, slow and have a soft, pleasant falsetto quality to them. Two calls consist of two long coos followed by a pause and then a long, short and long coo. Sometimes they call two long coos. The alarm coo consists of a few short but loud coos.

Conservation

Australia

Diamond doves are not listed as threatened on the Australian

Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 The ''Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999'' (Cth) is an Act of the Parliament of Australia that provides a framework for protection of the Australian environment, including its biodiversity and its natural and cult ...

State of Victoria, Australia

* The diamond dove is listed as threatened on the Victorian

Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act (1988) The ''Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988'', also known as the ''FFG Act'', is an act of the Victorian Government designed to protect species, genetic material and habitats, to prevent extinction and allow maximum genetic diversity within the Au ...

. Under this Act, an ''Action Statement'' for the recovery and future management of this species has not been prepared.Department of Sustainability and Environment, Victoria
* On the 2007 advisory list of threatened vertebrate fauna in Victoria, the diamond dove is listed as

near-threatened A near-threatened species is a species which has been categorized as "Near Threatened" (NT) by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as that may be vulnerable to endangerment in the near future, but it does not currently qualify f ...

Gallery

Geopelia cuneata.JPG, Close-up of a captive bird Diamon dove - Christopher Watson.jpg, Next to a

zebra finch The zebra finches are two species of estrildid finch in the genus ''Taeniopygia'' found in Australia and Indonesia. They are seed-eaters that travel in large flocks. The species are: Previously, both species were classified as a single specie ...

at a waterhole,

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory shares its borders with Western Aust ...

, Australia Close up of Diamond Dove.jpg, The rufous inner vanes of the primary feathers are clearly visible in this captive bird, Northern Territory, Australia

Citations

Sources

* * Pizzey and Knight, "Field Guide to the Birds of Australia", Angus & Robertson,

External links

The Dove Page: Diamond Dove (Geopelia cuneata)Diamond Dove Home Page

External links

{{Taxonbar, from=Q58904 diamond dove Endemic birds of Australia diamond dove Taxa named by John Latham (ornithologist)