Geopelia

Geopelia is a genus of small, long-tailed doves in the family Columbidae. They are native to South-east Asia and Australasia and are most often found in open country and scrubland. They feed mainly on seeds which they find by foraging on the ground. They typically lay two eggs in a simple nest of twigs and grass. Their plumage is mostly greyish-brown with a pattern of spots or bars. The zebra dove and diamond dove are commonly kept in captivity.

Geopelia
Zebra doves (Geopelia striata)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Columbiformes
Family: Columbidae
Subfamily: Columbinae
Genus: Geopelia
Swainson, 1837
Species

See text.

The genus was introduced in 1837 by the English naturalist William John Swainson with the zebra dove (Geopelia striata) as the type species.[1][2] The name of the genus combines the Ancient Greek geō- meaning "ground-" and peleia meaning "dove".[3]

The genus contains five species:[4]

References
  1. Swainson, William John (1837). On the Natural History and Classification of Birds. Volume 2. London: John Taylor. p. 348.
  2. Peters, James Lee, ed. (1937). Check-list of Birds of the World. Volume 3. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. p. 100.
  3. Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p. 172. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
  4. Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (2020). "Pigeons". IOC World Bird List Version 10.1. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 5 March 2020.


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.