Pigeons and Doves from around Australia (in no real taxonomic order)

GENUS COLUMBA

Three species of pigeon in the genus Columba can be found in Australia. One, the white-throated pigeon of Lord Howe Island, is now extinct. The other, the rock pigeon, is an introduced species. Finally, there is the only native Columba species left- the white-headed pigeon.

WHITE-HEADED PIGEON Columba leucomela

ROCK PIGEON Columba livia

TURTLEDOVES

A turtledove is any bird in the genus Streptopelia. There are three species of turtledove in mainland Australia, all introduced. A fourth, the red-collared dove, has been introduced to Christmas Island. The barbary dove, laughing dove and spotted dove are the three species of turtledove on the mainland. By far the commonest and most widespread is the spotted dove. The laughing dove can only be found in south-western Western Australia, while the barbary dove is very rare and the main population is in Alice Springs.

SPOTTED DOVE Streptopelia chinensis

CUCKOO-DOVES
There are three genera of pigeons known as cuckoo-doves. Only one species of cuckoo-dove can be found in Australia- the brown cuckoo-dove from the genus Macropygia. 

BROWN CUCKOO-DOVE Macropygia amboinensis

EMERALD DOVE
There are two species of emerald dove- the common emerald dove and the Stephen's emerald dove. Only the common emerald dove is found in Australia. It has a brown head and brown underparts, as well as emerald green wings. Males have a grey crown. Both species of emerald dove are in the genus Chalcophaps. The common emerald dove can be found all the way from Australia to Sri Lanka, but the Stephen's emerald dove is only found in New Guinea, Indonesia and the Solomon Islands.

BRONZEWING PIGEONS
There are three species of bronzewing pigeon in Australia, all in the genus Phaps. The commonest of these is the common bronzewing. The brush bronzewing is commonest in dry forests and is only found in southern Australia. The rarer flock bronzewing is found in inland Australia and is very nomadic, travelling around the desert in huge flocks.

COMMON BRONZEWING Phaps chalcoptera

CRESTED PIGEON
The crested pigeon is the only bird in the genus Ocyphaps. It has an erect crest and it is very common in its range- it is in fact one of the commonest birds at the school I go to, Essendon North Primary.

CRESTED PIGEON Ocyphaps lophotes

SPINIFEX, SQUATTER AND PARTRIDGE PIGEONS
These three pigeons inhabit northern and inland Australia and are all in the genus Geophaps. 

ROCK-PIGEONS
There are two species of rock-pigeon. The chestnut-quilled rock-pigeon is endemic to Kakadu National Park, while the white-quilled is found in the Kimberly area.

NATIVE DOVES
These three birds are all in the genus Geopelia. The diamond dove is a bird of inland Australia, inhabiting lightly arid areas near water. The bar-shouldered dove is the largest of the three doves and can be found in northern and eastern Australia. The peaceful dove can be found throughout Australia, except for in southern Victoria, Tasmania and south-western Australia. It is closely related to the Indonesian zebra dove.

PEACEFUL DOVE Geopelia placida

WONGA PIGEON
The wonga pigeon is the only bird in the genus Leucosarcia. In most places it is a shy bird that will take flight rather easily. However, at O'Reilly's there are very tame wonga pigeons that will come very close to you. The wonga pigeon is generally found in rainforests and wet eucalypt forests.

WONGA PIGEON Leucosarcia melanoleuca

FRUIT-DOVES

A fruit-dove is any bird in the genus Ptilinopus. These colourful, fruit-eating doves can be found in forests and woodlands in Southeast Asia, Australasia and Oceania. There are about 50 species of fruit-dove- some are threatened and some are already extinct. 3 of these can be found in mainland Australia- the superb, wompoo and rose-crowned fruit-dove.

WOMPOO FRUIT-DOVE Ptilinopus magnificus

GROUND-DOVES
Only one species of ground-dove could be found in Australia- the Norfolk Island Ground-Dove. That bird is now extinct.

IMPERIAL-PIGEONS
One species of imperial-pigeon can be found in mainland Australia regularly- the pied imperial-pigeon. On the Torres Strait Islands, the collared imperial-pigeon can also be seen, and the elegant imperial-pigeon is a rare vagrant to Darwin. The pied imperial pigeon is rather common near the coast in northern Australia, especially in Cairns.

PIED IMPERIAL-PIGEON Ducula bicolor

TOPKNOT PIGEON
The topknot pigeon is the only bird in the genus Lopholaimus. It has grey wings, light greyish underparts, a red bill and a reddish-brown crest. It eats fruit.

NEW ZEALAND PIGEON
Though once found on Norfolk Island, this bird is now extinct on the island, though it is still quite common in New Zealand.