The long-tail zebra dove “Geopelia striata ” belongs to the dove family, Columbidae, native to Southeast Asia. This is also known as a barred ground dove, mainly brownish-grey in color with black and white barring.
This dove is native to Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Mauritius, the Seychelles, Laos, and the Indonesian islands of Java, Sumatra, Borneo, Lombok, Bali, Sumbawa, and the Philippine Islands. The zebra dove is popular in captivity, however, it is mainly found in farmland, lowland areas, parks, and gardens. Moreover, these doves are among the most abundant birds in Hawaii and the Seychelles.
Life Span: The adult zebra dove lives about five years in the wild. Some cases, however, have noted a life span of 7 to 10 years.
Zebra Dove Call: The Zebra Dove is popular among bird lovers due to its pleasant, soft, staccato cooing sounds. Indonesian and Thai people love the cooing of zebra doves, and they use them as pets. Zebra dove call and sound is a peaceful and relaxing tonic for anxiety and depression patients.
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Similar Species: The brown-featured dove closely resembles the peaceful dove of Papua New Guinea and the barred dove of Indonesia. Therefore, these two are classified as subspecies of the zebra dove.
Size: Zebra doves are approximately 20 to 24 cm in length with a wingspan of 24 to 26 cm.
Identification: The zebra dove has a small, narrow tail, with brown-grey underparts. However, the barring is black and white, with black bars on the sides of the neck, belly, and breast. The white tips are adding more beauty to the tail feathers, with blue-grey skin around the eyes.
Breeding and Feeding: The breeding season starts from September to June. Normally, the zebra dove feeds on weed seeds, small grass, insects, and other little invertebrates. Their natural habitat is to forage on bare ground, grass, and roads. They forage alone or in pairs, and their coloration camouflages wonderfully against the ground.
Courtship Display: The male bird does the courtship display by bowing and cooing while raising and spreading the tail.
Nesting: When it comes to finding the nesting site, the female bird will make guttural sounds to attract males to help make the nest. The nest consists of simple leaves, and grass blades, built at trees, bush, and window ledges.
Eggs: The zebra dove lays 1 or 2 white eggs, which were incubated by both parents for 13 to 18 days. The chick leaves the nest within 2 weeks and flies after 3 weeks.
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