Doves are regular visitors to Africam waterholes, but they’re not all the same! Here’s how to tell the most common species apart on SafariSnaps:

🕊 Laughing Dove – Small and slender with a pinkish chest and a scaly, spotted pattern on the neck. Often seen pecking near the ground.

🕊 Cape Turtle Dove (Ring-necked Dove) – Medium-sized with a black half-collar on the back of the neck. Its “work-HAR-der” call is often heard across the bush.

🕊 Red-eyed Dove – Bigger and darker than other doves, with a full black collar and deep red eyes. Look for them perched in trees.

🕊 Emerald-spotted Wood Dove – Small, shy, and often overlooked. Spot the green patches on the wings and listen for a soft, drawn-out call.

🕊 Mourning Collared Dove – A medium-sized, stocky dove with pale brown wings, a grey head, pinkish underparts, and a pale grey belly. Look for the distinctive black neck patch edged in white and red skin around the eye.

SafariSnaps Tip: Look closely at the collar shape, eye colour, size, and wing pattern and listen for their unique calls - sound can be just as helpful as sight!