Lemon dove

Lemon dove
File:Dove Lemon 2012 02 03 16 32 03 8011.jpg
Giant's Castle Game Reserve, South Africa
File:Columba larvata, onvolwassene, Eshowe, Birding Weto, a.jpg
Immature at Eshowe, KwaZulu-Natal
Conservation status
Least Concern Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Columbiformes
Family:	Columbidae
Genus:	Aplopelia Bonaparte, 1855
Species:	A. larvata
Binomial name
Aplopelia larvata (Temminck, 1809)
Synonyms
Columba larvata

The lemon dove or cinnamon dove (Aplopelia larvata) is a species of bird in the pigeon family Columbidae found in montane forests of sub-Saharan Africa. The lemon dove has a generally brownish-grey plumage with a cinnamon brown breast. Males have a greenish-glossed neck and white markings on the head, and females and juveniles are rather more brown and have grey facial markings. This dove is a common species, and the International Union for Conservation of Nature has rated its conservation status as being of "least concern".

Taxonomy

The lemon dove was previously placed in the genus Columba but it differs from the African pigeons of the genus Columba both genetically and by its terrestrial habits. Some treat the Gulf of Guinea populations (São Tomé lemon-dove) as a separate species A. simplex (or C. simplex), others as subspecies of A. larvata.

Seven subspecies are recognised:

• A. l. inornata Reichenow, A, 1827 – Sierra Leone to Liberia, southeastern Nigeria, Cameroon, and Gabon; Bioko
• A. l. principalis (Hartlaub, KJG, 1866) – Príncipe (Gulf of Guinea)
• A. l. simplex (Hartlaub, KJG, 1849) – São Tomé (Gulf of Guinea)
• A. l. bronzina (Rüppell, WPES, 1837) – Eritrea, Ethiopia, and southeastern South Sudan (Boma Hills)
• A. l. larvata (Temminck, CJ, 1809) – southern Sudan and central and eastern Uganda to South Africa
• A. l. jacksoni Sharpe, RB, 1904 – eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo and southwestern Uganda to western Tanzania
• A. l. samaliyae White, CMN, 1948 – Angola, southern Democratic Republic of the Congo, and northwestern Zambia

Description

File:Cinnamon Dove RWD.jpg

At Birds of Eden aviary

The lemon dove is fairly small, measuring 24–30 cm (9.4–11.8 in) in length and weighing 81.7–150 g (2.88–5.29 oz). Adult males have a plumage that is dark brown above, glossed green on sides of neck, and cinnamon brown below. As noted, they have conspicuous white face markings. The feet, iris and orbital skin are red, the bill is black. Females and young males are generally similar, with a lighter brown plumage and dull grey facial markings. The males of western African subspecies have a dark grey plumage.

Distribution

The lemon dove has a very wide range and is distributed in montane forests in sub-Saharan Africa, ranging for example from some 100 to 3,000 metres (330 to 9,840 ft) ASL in eastern Africa. The diet consists mainly of various small fruits, seeds, molluscs and insects. The female usually lays two creamy white eggs.

Status

Widespread throughout its range, the population trend of the lemon dove is stable and the bird is evaluated as a species of least concern on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Nonetheless, it seems to be declining in certain parts of its range; in Tanzania for example it is not rare above 1,300 metres (4,300 ft) ASL in the Nguu North Forest Reserve, but not at all common in some lower-lying habitat. It is nearly absent from the southeast of that country.

External links

• BirdLife Species Factsheet
• (Cinnamon dove = ) lemon dove - Species text in The Atlas of Southern African Birds