Streptopelia decipiens
Silhouette: Andy Wilson · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~50% in a week ~80%
The mourning collared dove or African mourning dove (Streptopelia decipiens) is a dove which is a widespread resident breeding bird in Africa south of the Sahara. This species is common or abundant near water. It often mingles peacefully with other doves. Despite its name, it is not closely related to the North American mourning dove (Zenaida macroura).
The mourning collared dove is a medium-sized, stocky pigeon, 28–30 cm in length. It has a pale grey head and pinkish-grey body, with a broad black half-collar finely edged in white on the back and sides of the neck. The wings are broad and pointed, pale brown with darker brown flight feathers. The legs, and a patch of bare skin around the eye, are red, and the iris is pale yellow to brownish. When flying, it shows dark flight feathers and extensive white in the tail, the latter being a distinction from the similar but slightly larger red-eyed dove; this also differs in having a red iris.
The sexes are similar, but immatures are duller than adults, and have scalloping on the body feathers. Six subspecies are accepted: Streptopelia decipiens shelleyi (Salvadori, AT, 1893) — Mauritania and Senegambia to... Wikipedia →
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Maiduguri | 🇳🇬 Nigeria | |
| 2 | Ouagadougou | 🇧🇫 Burkina Faso | |
| 3 | Serrekunda | 🇬🇲 Gambia | |
| 4 | N'Djamena | 🇹🇩 Chad | |
| 5 | Dakar | 🇸🇳 Senegal | |
| 6 | Abuja | 🇳🇬 Nigeria | |
| 7 | Addis Ababa | 🇪🇹 Ethiopia | |
| 8 | Kampala | 🇺🇬 Uganda |
Possible
About 20% of wildlife watchers report an African Mourning Dove sighting in Lower Zambezi National Park on a given day, based on 61 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 103rd most-seen of the 241 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 50%, and over a week to about 80%, if each day is a fresh chance.
August
In that month about 50% of wildlife watchers report an African Mourning Dove in Lower Zambezi National Park on a given day, against under 5% in November, the lowest month. That is one of Lower Zambezi National Park's driest months, with almost no rain against 290 mm in January. February and March have too few records to rate.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most African Mourning 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.
15th of 30
Of the 30 parks where we can rate African Mourning Dove sightings, Lower Zambezi National Park ranks 15th at about 20%. The best odds are in Niokolo-Koba National Park (Senegal, about 50%), Samburu National Reserve (Kenya, about 50%) and Tarangire National Park (Tanzania, about 40%). All parks ranked.
Same genus: Streptopelia
The closest relatives of the African Mourning Dove that you can see in Lower Zambezi National Park (genus Streptopelia, Turtle-Doves and Collared-Doves) are Cape Turtle Dove (about 70%) and Red-eyed Dove (about 40%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the African Mourning Dove is recorded against all the birds logged in Lower Zambezi National Park (61 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.
