''Geopelia'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

of small, long-tailed doves in the family

Columbidae 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 ...

. They are native to

South-east Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical south-eastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of mainland ...

and

Australasia Australasia is a region that comprises Australia, New Zealand and some neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean. The term is used in a number of different contexts, including geopolitically, physiogeographically, philologically, and ecologica ...

and are most often found in open country and scrubland. They feed mainly on seeds which they find by foraging on the ground. They typically lay two eggs in a simple nest of twigs and grass. Their plumage is mostly greyish-brown with a pattern of spots or bars. The

zebra dove The zebra dove (''Geopelia striata''), also known as the barred ground dove, or barred dove, is a species of bird of the dove family, Columbidae, native to Southeast Asia. They are small birds with a long tail, predominantly brownish-grey in col ...

and

diamond dove The diamond dove (''Geopelia cuneata'') is a resident bird in Australia. The dove predominantly exists in areas near water but which are lightly arid or semi-arid in nature, being Central, West and Northern Australia. They are one of Australia's ...

are commonly kept in captivity. The genus was introduced in 1837 by the English naturalist

William John Swainson William John Swainson FLS, FRS (8 October 1789 – 6 December 1855), was an English ornithologist, malacologist, conchologist, entomologist and artist. Life Swainson was born in Dover Place, St Mary Newington, London, the eldest son of ...

with the

(''Geopelia striata'') as the

type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specimen ...

. The name of the genus combines the

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic peri ...

''geō-'' meaning "ground-" and ''peleia'' meaning "dove". The genus contains five species: *

Diamond dove The diamond dove (''Geopelia cuneata'') is a resident bird in Australia. The dove predominantly exists in areas near water but which are lightly arid or semi-arid in nature, being Central, West and Northern Australia. They are one of Australia's ...

, ''Geopelia cuneata'' *

Zebra dove The zebra dove (''Geopelia striata''), also known as the barred ground dove, or barred dove, is a species of bird of the dove family, Columbidae, native to Southeast Asia. They are small birds with a long tail, predominantly brownish-grey in col ...

, ''Geopelia striata'' *

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 ...

, ''Geopelia placida'' (sometimes treated as a subspecies of ''G. striata'') * Barred dove, ''Geopelia maugeus'' (sometimes treated as a subspecies of ''G. striata'') *

Bar-shouldered dove The bar-shouldered dove (''Geopelia humeralis'') is a species of Geopelia, long tailed dove native to Australia and Southern New Guinea. It is protected under the ''National Parks and Wildlife Act 1974''. It is a medium-sized pigeon varying in s ...

, ''Geopelia humeralis''

References

External links

The Geopelia species
Bird genera Taxa named by William John Swainson {{Columbiformes-stub