Streptopelia vinacea
Silhouette: Andy Wilson · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~60% in a week ~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 |
Possible
About 20% of wildlife watchers report a Vinaceous Dove sighting in Pendjari National Park on a given day, based on 6 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 11th most-seen of the 15 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 60%, and over a week to about 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
September
In that month about 50% of wildlife watchers report a Vinaceous Dove in Pendjari National Park on a given day, against under 5% in April, the lowest month. That is one of Pendjari National Park's wettest months, with about 130 mm of rain against almost none in January.
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.
7th of 9
Of the 9 parks where we can rate Vinaceous Dove sightings, Pendjari National Park ranks 7th at about 20%. The best odds are in Niokolo-Koba National Park (Senegal, about 70%), Mole National Park (Ghana, about 70%) and Kidepo Valley National Park (Uganda, about 60%). All parks ranked.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Vinaceous Dove is recorded against all the birds logged in Pendjari National Park (6 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.
