Streptopelia lugens
Silhouette: Andy Wilson · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~30%
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 |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Dusky Turtle Dove sighting in Masai Mara National Reserve on a given day, based on 146 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 194th most-seen of the 398 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 30%, if each day is a fresh chance.
March–April, July–August and October–November
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Dusky Turtle Dove in Masai Mara National Reserve on a given day, against under 5% in May–June, September and December–February, the lowest months.
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.
9th of 20
Of the 20 parks where we can rate Dusky Turtle Dove sightings, Masai Mara National Reserve ranks 9th at about 10%. The best odds are in Nairobi National Park (Kenya, about 40%), Bale Mountains National Park (Ethiopia, about 30%) and Volcanoes National Park (Rwanda, about 30%).
Same genus: Streptopelia
The closest relatives of the Dusky Turtle Dove that you can see in Masai Mara National Reserve (genus Streptopelia, Turtle-Doves and Collared-Doves) are Cape Turtle Dove (about 60%) and Red-eyed Dove (about 30%), 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 Masai Mara National Reserve (146 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.
