Dusky Turtle Dove

Dusky Turtle Dove

Streptopelia lugens

Silhouette: Andy Wilson · PhyloPic

LCLeast ConcernNTVUENCR
Daily sighting probability ~10% · With luck
at Nairobi

In 3 days ~30% in a week ~50%

167 Verified sightings at Nairobi
1,969 In all 20 parks From 2019 to 2026
January Best month
☀️ Diurnal When it's spotted

About the Dusky Turtle Dove

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 →

Sounds

Song1:17

Ethiopia · 2014

© Andrew Spencer · XC276761 · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Call0:47

Tanzania · 2011

© Martin St-Michel · XC94563 · CC BY-NC-ND 2.5

Song0:19

Saudi Arabia · 2022

© David Darrell-Lambert · XC746509 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Global Distribution

Parks Where Found

# Park Country Daily sighting probability
1 Nairobi National Park 🇰🇪 Kenya
~40%
2 Bale Mountains National Park 🇪🇹 Ethiopia
~30%
3 Volcanoes National Park 🇷🇼 Rwanda
~30%
4 Nyungwe National Park 🇷🇼 Rwanda
~20%
5 Ngorongoro Conservation Area 🇹🇿 Tanzania
~20%
6 Virunga National Park 🇨🇩 Democratic Republic of the Congo
~10%
7 Awash National Park 🇪🇹 Ethiopia
~10%
8 Aberdare National Park 🇰🇪 Kenya
~10%
9 Masai Mara National Reserve 🇰🇪 Kenya
~10%
10 Mkomazi National Park 🇹🇿 Tanzania
~10%
11 Arusha National Park 🇹🇿 Tanzania
<5%
12 Bwindi Impenetrable National Park 🇺🇬 Uganda
<5%
13 Kidepo Valley National Park 🇺🇬 Uganda
<5%
14 Akagera National Park 🇷🇼 Rwanda
<5%
15 Samburu National Reserve 🇰🇪 Kenya
<5%
16 Lake Manyara National Park 🇹🇿 Tanzania
<5%
17 Lake Nakuru National Park 🇰🇪 Kenya
<5%
18 Serengeti National Park 🇹🇿 Tanzania
<5%
19 Queen Elizabeth National Park 🇺🇬 Uganda
<5%
20 Tarangire National Park 🇹🇿 Tanzania
<5%

Cities Where Found

# City Country Daily sighting probability
1 Addis Ababa 🇪🇹 Ethiopia
~70%
2 Nairobi 🇰🇪 Kenya
~10%

Before you go

What are the chances of seeing a Dusky Turtle Dove in Nairobi?

With luck

About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Dusky Turtle Dove sighting in Nairobi on a given day, based on 167 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 63rd most-seen of the 234 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 30%, and over a week to about 50%, if each day is a fresh chance.

When is the best time to see a Dusky Turtle Dove in Nairobi?

January

In that month about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Dusky Turtle Dove in Nairobi on a given day, against about 10% in February to December, the lowest months.

What time of day is best to see a Dusky Turtle Dove?

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.

Is Nairobi the best place to see a Dusky Turtle Dove?

2nd of 2

Of the 2 cities where we can rate Dusky Turtle Dove sightings, Nairobi ranks 2nd at about 10%. The best odds are in Addis Ababa (Ethiopia, about 70%).

Where does the Dusky Turtle Dove sighting chance come from?

GBIF citizen-science records

It is estimated from how often the Dusky Turtle Dove is recorded against all the birds logged in Nairobi (167 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.

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