Turtur chalcospilos
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~30% in a week ~50%
The emerald-spotted wood dove or emerald-spotted dove (Turtur chalcospilos) is a bird of the family Columbidae, resident across eastern and southern Africa. It is a species of open drier deciduous woodland and second growth. It is absent from evergreen rainforests and semidesert areas.
The emerald-spotted wood dove is a small plump pigeon, typically 20 cm in length. Its back, hindneck, wings, and tail are pale grey-brown, and the folded wings have green metallic patches. There are blackish bands on the lower back and tail. The forehead, crown, and nape are bluish-grey, fading to pinkish-grey on the throat. The underparts are mauve-pink, becoming whiter on the belly.
The bill of this dove is blackish with a red base. The sexes are similar, but the female may be slightly duller than the male. The immature has duller green spots and buff fringes to the feathers. When flying, the black-billed wood dove is told from this species by its bright chestnut underwings.
The call is in three parts: two soft long coos, followed by a series of slow descending coos lasting 10 seconds, and concluding with 4 seconds of rapid coos, which decrease in volume. This species shows some... Wikipedia →
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | San Diego Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report an Emerald-spotted Wood-Dove sighting in Waterberg Plateau Park on a given day, based on 13 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 83rd most-seen of the 118 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.
March and December
In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report an Emerald-spotted Wood-Dove in Waterberg Plateau Park on a given day, against under 5% in September, the lowest month. Those are among Waterberg Plateau Park's wettest months, with about 65 mm of rain a month against almost none in May. April and June have too few records to rate.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Emerald-spotted Wood-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.
34th of 43
Of the 43 parks where we can rate Emerald-spotted Wood-Dove sightings, Waterberg Plateau Park ranks 34th at about 10%. The best odds are in uMkhuze Game Reserve (South Africa, about 80%), Gonarezhou National Park (Zimbabwe, about 80%) and Mana Pools National Park (Zimbabwe, about 70%). All parks ranked.
Same family: Columbidae
The closest relatives of the Emerald-spotted Wood-Dove that you can see in Waterberg Plateau Park (family Columbidae, Pigeons and Doves) are Cape Turtle Dove (about 50%), Laughing Dove (about 50%) and Speckled Pigeon (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Emerald-spotted Wood-Dove is recorded against all the birds logged in Waterberg Plateau Park (13 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.
