Streptopelia roseogrisea
Status: No accepted records.
Taxonomy: There are two subspecies recognized in the native African range, roseogrisea and arabica (AviList 2025).
This species is presumed to be the wild ancestor of Ringed Turtle-Dove (see that species) and resembles it closely (see Comments).
Comments: This species was formerly considered established in the United States, but the ABA Checklist Committee removed it in 1994 as an “extirpated exotic” (DeBenedictis 1994). At that time there were viable populations in Los Angeles, California, St. Petersburg, Florida, Montgomery, Alabama, and Houston, Texas. Currently, eBird shows numerous reports across the US, the vast majority considered escapees or released birds. Ted Floyd has monitored a small breeding colony of African Collared-Doves around Lake Waneka, Boulder Co, Colorado since 2014 (eBird.org, accessed November 2017).
There is an accepted record for Nebraska of a non-domestic single bird in York Co 21 Apr 2019 (Noah Arthur, eBird.org). Although this Nebraska record was well-described as a wild type African Collared-Dove, it was noted by Jorgensen that it was not associated with an established colony and thus likely an escaped or released individual (ebird.org, accessed November 2025).
Sightings in the wild in Nebraska are most likely of escaped or released Ringed Turtle-Doves, such as one with Eurasian Collared-Doves in Banner Co 26 Mar 2020 (Leukering, eBird.org), but any viable breeding colony may indeed be African Collared-Doves, as Ringed Turtle-Doves are not believed to be able to sustain themselves or breed in the wild (Romagosa and McEneaney 1999). Such African Collared-Dove populations exist in Puerto Rico, New Zealand, Bahamas, and Florida, and probably all originate from released or escaped Barbary Doves (Baptista et al 2026).
Pictures were posted to NEBIRDS of a bird fitting the description of this species in the Hickory Hills II area of Papillion 8 Jan 2017. This location is close to Hogan St, Papillion where there had been an apparently human-assisted colony of these birds for several years (Phil Swanson, personal communication).
According to Romagosa and Mlodinow (2022), “African Collared-Dove differs [from Eurasian Collared-Dove] in having white [rather than brownish] undertail coverts, more limited white on the undertail (including entirely white outer web of outermost rectrix), and less contrast on the upperwing in flight, so that it lacks the distinctly tricolored affect of the upperparts in flight (brown mantle, blackish outer wing, and gray in between”. The song is distinctive and different from that of Eurasian Collared-Dove: https://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S28544714. There are about 30 reports from the Colorado Front Range, many centered on the Lake Waneka area (eBird.org, accessed Nov 2025).
Abbreviations
ABA: American Birding Association
Literature Cited
AviList Core Team, 2025. AviList: The Global Avian Checklist, v2025. https://doi.org/10.2173/avilist.v2025.
Baptista, L.F., P.W. Trail, H.M. Horblit, PF.D. Boesman, and E. Garcia. 2026. African Collared-Dove (Streptopelia roseogrisea), version 1.1. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, E. de Juana, and B. K. Keeney, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.afcdov1.01.1.
DeBenedictis, P.A. 1994. ABA Checklist Report, 1992. Birding 26: 93-102.
Romagosa, C.M., and T. McEneaney. 1999. Eurasian Collared-Dove in North America and the Caribbean. North America Birds 53: 348-353.
Romagosa, C.M., and S.G. Mlodinow. 2022. Eurasian Collared-Dove (Streptopelia decaocto), version 1.1. In Birds of the World (P. Pyle, P.G. Rodewald, and S.M. Billerman, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.eucdov.01.1.
Recommended Citation
Silcock, W.R., and J.G. Jorgensen. 2026. African Collared-Dove (Streptopelia roseogrisea). In Birds of Nebraska — Online. www.BirdsofNebraska.org
Birds of Nebraska – Online
Updated 21 Jul 2026