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To the Beauty of Birds

The Zebra Dove (Geopelia striata) also known as barred ground dove, is a bird of the dove family, Columbidae, native to Southeast Asia. They are small birds with a long tail. They are predominantly brownish grey in color with black-and-white barring. They are known for their pleasant soft, staccato cooing calls.
In 1743 the English naturalist George Edwards included a description and a picture of the zebra dove in his A Natural History of Uncommon Birds. His drawing was made from a live specimen at the home of admiral Charles Wager in Parsons Green near London. Edwards was told that the dove had been brought from the East Indies. When in 1766 the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus updated his Systema Naturae for the twelfth edition, he included the zebra dove and placed it with all the other pigeons in the genus Columba. Linnaeus included a brief description, coined the binomial name Columba striata and cited Edwards's work. The specific name striata is from the Latin striatus meaning "striated". The type locality has been restricted to the island of Java in Indonesia. The species is now placed in the genus Geopelia that was introduced by the English naturalist William John Swainson in 1837. The zebra dove is monotypic: no subspecies are recognised.

The birds are small and slender with a long, narrow tail. The upperparts are brownish grey with black-and-white barring. The underparts are pinkish with black bars on the sides of the neck, breast and belly. The face is blue-grey with bare blue skin around the eyes. There are white tips to the tail feathers. Juveniles are duller and paler than the adults. They can also have brown feathers. Zebra doves are 20-23 centimeters in length with a wingspan of 24–26 cm. Their call is a series of soft, staccato cooing notes.

The zebra dove is popular in captivity and many populations have appeared outside its native range due to birds escaping or being deliberately released. It can now be found in central Thailand, Laos, Borneo, Sulawesi, Hawaii (introduced in 1922), Tahiti (1950), New Caledonia, the Seychelles, the Chagos Archipelago (1960), Mauritius (before 1768), Réunion, and Saint Helena.

It inhabits scrub, farmland, and open country in lowland areas and is commonly seen in parks and gardens. Trapping for the cagebird industry has led to them becoming rare in parts of Indonesia but in most parts of its range it is common. Zebra doves are among the most abundant birds in some places such as Hawaii and the Seychelles.

Zebra Dove

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