Streptopelia vinacea
Silhouette: Andy Wilson · PhyloPic
In 3 days >90%
The vinaceous dove (Streptopelia vinacea) is a bird species in the pigeon family Columbidae that widely resident across northern Sub-Saharan Africa. The vinaceous dove was formally described in 1789 by German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition of Carl Linnaeus's Systema Naturae. He placed it with all the other doves and pigeons in the genus Columba and coined the binomial name Columba vinacea. Gmelin based his description on the earlier publications by French ornithologists Mathurin Jacques Brisson and Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon. The vinaceous dove is now placed with 14 other species in the genus Streptopelia that was introduced in 1855 by French ornithologist Charles Lucien Bonaparte. The genus name is from the Ancient Greek στρεπτός (streptós) – literal meaning "twisted", but by extension, "wearing a torc" (i.e., twisted metal collar) – and πέλεια (péleia) meaning "wild dove". The specific vinacea is from Latin vinaceus, meaning "of wine" or "vinaceous". The species is monotypic; no subspecies are recognized.
The vinaceous dove is a small, stocky pigeon, typically 26 to 30 centimeters (10.2 to 11.8 inches...
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Niokolo-Koba National Park | 🇸🇳 Senegal | |
| 2 | Mole National Park | 🇬🇭 Ghana | |
| 3 | Kidepo Valley National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 4 | Chinko Conservation Area | 🇨🇫 Central African Republic | |
| 5 | Murchison Falls National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 6 | Saloum Delta National Park | 🇸🇳 Senegal | |
| 7 | Pendjari National Park | 🇧🇯 Benin | |
| 8 | Djoudj National Bird Sanctuary | 🇸🇳 Senegal | |
| 9 | Queen Elizabeth National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ouagadougou | 🇧🇫 Burkina Faso | |
| 2 | Serrekunda | 🇬🇲 Gambia | |
| 3 | Maiduguri | 🇳🇬 Nigeria | |
| 4 | Accra | 🇬🇭 Ghana | |
| 5 | Abuja | 🇳🇬 Nigeria | |
| 6 | N'Djamena | 🇹🇩 Chad | |
| 7 | Lomé | 🇹🇬 Togo |
Very likely
About 70% of wildlife watchers report a Vinaceous Dove sighting in Mole National Park on a given day, based on 411 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 2nd most-seen of the 266 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
January, August and October
In those months about 80% of wildlife watchers report a Vinaceous Dove in Mole National Park on a given day, against about 50% in May and June, the lowest months. July has too few records to rate.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Vinaceous 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.
Among the best
Of the 9 parks where we can rate Vinaceous Dove sightings, Mole National Park ranks 2nd at about 70%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Niokolo-Koba National Park (Senegal, about 70%). All parks ranked.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Vinaceous Dove is recorded against all the birds logged in Mole National Park (411 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.
