Streptopelia lugens
Silhouette: Andy Wilson · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~70% in a week ~90%
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 →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nairobi National Park | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 2 | Bale Mountains National Park | 🇪🇹 Ethiopia | |
| 3 | Volcanoes National Park | 🇷🇼 Rwanda | |
| 4 | Nyungwe National Park | 🇷🇼 Rwanda | |
| 5 | Ngorongoro Conservation Area | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 6 | Virunga National Park | 🇨🇩 Democratic Republic of the Congo | |
| 7 | Awash National Park | 🇪🇹 Ethiopia | |
| 8 | Aberdare National Park | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 9 | Masai Mara National Reserve | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 10 | Mkomazi National Park | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 11 | Arusha National Park | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 12 | Bwindi Impenetrable National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 13 | Kidepo Valley National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 14 | Akagera National Park | 🇷🇼 Rwanda | |
| 15 | Samburu National Reserve | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 16 | Lake Manyara National Park | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 17 | Lake Nakuru National Park | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 18 | Serengeti National Park | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 19 | Queen Elizabeth National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 20 | Tarangire National Park | 🇹🇿 Tanzania |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Addis Ababa | 🇪🇹 Ethiopia | |
| 2 | Nairobi | 🇰🇪 Kenya |
Possible
About 30% of wildlife watchers report a Dusky Turtle Dove sighting in Bale Mountains National Park on a given day, based on 66 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 26th most-seen of the 117 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 70%, and over a week to about 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
November
In that month about 50% of wildlife watchers report a Dusky Turtle Dove in Bale Mountains National Park on a given day, against about 10% in December, the lowest month. March and September have too few records to rate.
Between 6 and 9 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Dusky Turtle Dove sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
2nd of 20
Of the 20 parks where we can rate Dusky Turtle Dove sightings, Bale Mountains National Park ranks 2nd at about 30%. The best odds are in Nairobi National Park (Kenya, about 40%).
Same family: Columbidae
The closest relatives of the Dusky Turtle Dove that you can see in Bale Mountains National Park (family Columbidae, Pigeons and Doves) are White-collared Pigeon (about 80%) and Speckled Pigeon (about 50%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Dusky Turtle Dove is recorded against all the birds logged in Bale Mountains National Park (66 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
