Geopelia cuneata
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days <5%
The diamond dove (Geopelia cuneata) is a resident bird in Australia. The pigeon 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 smallest pigeons along with the peaceful dove. They have been spotted occasionally in Southern Australia in parks and gardens when the centre of Australia is very dry.
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. 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 wings, 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 are light blue-grey. The bill is a dark grey colour. The abdomen is a creamy colour while the back and tail is a brown-grey colour. The legs 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... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 2 | Nitmiluk National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 3 | Kakadu National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 4 | Litchfield National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 5 | Flinders Ranges National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 6 | Hattah-Kulkyne National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Melbourne | 🇦🇺 Australia |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Diamond Dove sighting in Melbourne on a given day, based on 8 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 232nd most-seen of the 236 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to under 5%, if each day is a fresh chance.
Any time of year
In every month with enough records, under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Diamond Dove in Melbourne on a given day, so our monthly data shows no clear season.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Diamond Dove sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Only Melbourne, in our data
Melbourne is the only city on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Diamond Dove sightings: under 5% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
Same family: Columbidae
The closest relatives of the Diamond Dove that you can see in Melbourne (family Columbidae, Pigeons and Doves) are Pearl-necked Dove (about 70%), Crested Pigeon (about 40%) and Rock Pigeon (about 40%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Diamond Dove is recorded against all the birds logged in Melbourne (8 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.
