Micke Grove Zoo

SJGOV.org - How can we serve you today?

Visit S.J. County Parks & Recreation Website

Speckled Pigeon
Columba guinea

  • Habitat: Variety of habitats that include savanna, open woodland, arid environmenta with rocky outcrops and cliffs
  • Range: Angola, Botswana, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Eritrea, Kenya, Nigeria, Somalia, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zimbabwe
  • Natural Diet: Being granivorous they forage for seed
  • Status In The Wild: Least Concern (Common)

 

Fun Facts

  • Speckled pigeons, similar to other pigeons are well known for their navigational abilities

  • They are slate grey colored feathers with the primary feathers tinted with chestnut brown and black with a dapple of white. Their eyes are lined with red.

  • They have very well developed wing muscles and are known to be highly effective during flying.

  • They are highly social with some flocks that include more than 500 birds.

  • They practice biparental care and have an unique ability to produce milk from their crops to feed their young.

 

 

Conservation Threats

  • Currently, their population numbers in the wild have been found to be stable

 

 

 

 

Speckled Pigeon Speckled pigeons are housed in two aviaries in Micke Grove Zoo

 

These birds have a unique red colored eyed patch that is quite distinctive with tawny colored feathers around their necks

 

Map Distributional range - Speckled pigeons populations are found commonly distributed across central, eastern, western, and southern Africa