Zebra Dove
Geopelia striata
Also known as: Barred Ground Dove, Peaceful Dove
Habitat
Ground
Diet
PlantSeed
Active Time
Diurnal
Size
57 g
About This Species
This small, barred dove is a familiar ground forager in open country, farmland, and urban parks across much of maritime Southeast Asia, often seen walking and pecking for seed on lawns, paths, and roadside verges in pairs or small groups. Its soft, rhythmic cooing is distinctive and often heard before the bird itself is spotted low in short grass. It can be watched throughout the year, with feeding activity concentrated in the cooler parts of the morning and late afternoon.
Ethical Viewing Guidelines
- A few metres of distance is generally enough to watch this confiding, often urban-adapted dove without disturbing it, and it will typically continue feeding if approached slowly rather than directly.
- Wildlife protection law varies across the many Southeast Asian countries where it occurs, and in some parts of its range it is also kept and traded as a cage bird, so it is worth checking local rules rather than assuming uniform protection.
- Avoiding deliberate feeding helps keep populations behaving naturally rather than becoming reliant on people.
LCAvesColumbiformesColumbidae
Seasonal Activity
402,534 sightings · 2000–2026
Citizen science records via GBIF
All monthsThis month
Classification
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Columbiformes
- Family
- Columbidae
Traits
- Diet
- PlantSeed
- Foraging
- Ground
- Activity
- Diurnal
- Body mass
- 57 g
Photo
Wikimedia Commons / Wikimedia Commons
CC-BY-SA-4.0
Occurrence data from GBIF.