Columba guinea
Silhouette: Steven Traver · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~60% in a week ~80%
The speckled pigeon (Columba guinea), also known as the African rock pigeon or Guinea pigeon, is a pigeon that is a resident breeding bird in much of Africa south of the Sahara. It is a common and widespread species in open habitats over much of its range, although there are sizable gaps in its distribution.
In 1747 the English naturalist George Edwards included a description and an illustration of the speckled pigeon in the second volume of his A Natural History of Uncommon Birds. His hand-coloured etching was made from two live birds at the home of the Duke of Richmond in London. Edwards was told that the pigeons had been brought from the inland region of Guinea in West Africa. When in 1758 the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus updated his Systema Naturae for the tenth edition, he placed the speckled pigeon with all the other pigeons in the genus Columba. Linnaeus included a brief description, coined the binomial name Columba guinea and cited Edwards' work.
Despite the marked differences in plumage from the rock dove C. livia, speckled pigeon is closely related to it, and in captivity will hybridise with it; the hybrid males (but not the first-generation hybrid females... Wikipedia →
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Maiduguri | 🇳🇬 Nigeria | |
| 2 | Abuja | 🇳🇬 Nigeria | |
| 3 | Serrekunda | 🇬🇲 Gambia | |
| 4 | N'Djamena | 🇹🇩 Chad | |
| 5 | Lagos | 🇳🇬 Nigeria | |
| 6 | Addis Ababa | 🇪🇹 Ethiopia | |
| 7 | Dakar | 🇸🇳 Senegal | |
| 8 | Cape Town | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 9 | Cotonou | 🇧🇯 Benin | |
| 10 | Johannesburg | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Réserve africaine de Sigean | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 2 | Parc des oiseaux | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 3 | Zoo de Doué | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 4 | Al Ain Zoo | 🇦🇪 United Arab Emirates | |
| 5 | Toronto Zoo | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 6 | Columbus Zoo and Aquarium | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 7 | Oakland Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 8 | Louisville Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 9 | Kyiv Zoo | 🇺🇦 Ukraine | |
| 10 | Caldwell Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 11 | Woodland Park Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 12 | Parc zoologique et forestier Michel-Corbasson | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 13 | Moody Gardens | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 14 | Night Safari | 🇸🇬 Singapore | |
| 15 | Twycross Zoo | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 16 | Catoctin Wildlife Preserve and Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 17 | Oregon Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 18 | Lisbon Zoo | 🇵🇹 Portugal | |
| 19 | Singapore Zoo | 🇸🇬 Singapore | |
| 20 | San Antonio Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 21 | Zoo Atlanta | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 22 | Bird Paradise | 🇸🇬 Singapore | |
| 23 | Център за защита на природата и животните | 🇧🇬 Bulgaria | |
| 24 | Plock Zoo | 🇵🇱 Poland | |
| 25 | Rainforest Wild Asia | 🇸🇬 Singapore | |
| 26 | Welsh Mountain Zoo | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 27 | Birdworld | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 28 | La Ferme aux crocodiles | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 29 | Vogelpark Avifauna | 🇳🇱 Netherlands | |
| 30 | Paphos Zoo | 🇨🇾 Cyprus | |
| 31 | Monkeyland | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 32 | River Wonders | 🇸🇬 Singapore | |
| 33 | Elephant Sanctuary, The Crags, Plettenberg Bay | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 34 | Happy Hollow Park & Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 35 | Ménagerie du Jardin des Plantes | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 36 | UMA "El Palapo" | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 37 | Bird Park Steinen | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 38 | Alameda Park Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 39 | World of Birds Wildlife Sanctuary and Monkey Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 40 | Zoo Koki (Parque zoológico y botánico) | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 41 | Zoo Lagos | 🇵🇹 Portugal | |
| 42 | Kecskeméti Vadaskert | 🇭🇺 Hungary | |
| 43 | Birds of Eden | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 44 | Mississippi Aquarium | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 45 | Zoo de Lourosa | 🇵🇹 Portugal | |
| 46 | Golders Hill Park Zoo | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 47 | Aviary | 🇭🇰 Hong Kong SAR China | |
| 48 | Bird Kingdom | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 49 | Dobrich Zoo | 🇧🇬 Bulgaria | |
| 50 | Exotic Animal World | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
Possible
About 20% of wildlife watchers report a Speckled Pigeon sighting in Johannesburg on a given day, based on 969 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 33rd most-seen of the 219 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 60%, and over a week to about 80%, if each day is a fresh chance.
July
In that month about 40% of wildlife watchers report a Speckled Pigeon in Johannesburg on a given day, against about 10% in December, the lowest month. That is one of Johannesburg's driest months, with almost no rain against 130 mm in December.
Between 7 and 10 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Speckled Pigeon sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
10th of 19
Of the 19 cities where we can rate Speckled Pigeon sightings, Johannesburg ranks 10th at about 20%. The best odds are in Maiduguri (Nigeria, about 80%), Abuja (Nigeria, about 70%) and Serrekunda (Gambia, about 70%).
Same genus: Columba
The closest relatives of the Speckled Pigeon that you can see in Johannesburg (genus Columba, Typical Old World Pigeons) are Rock Pigeon (about 50%) and Rameron Pigeon (about 30%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Speckled Pigeon is recorded against all the birds logged in Johannesburg (969 verified sightings), 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.
