Bar-Shouldered Dove
Geopelia humeralis
About This Species
This heavy-bodied dove is common in open woodland, mangrove edges, and riverside vegetation across northern Australia and New Guinea, often walking on the ground beneath trees or perching quietly in the mid-canopy. Its deep, mournful cooing call, distinct from smaller local doves, carries well and is usually the easiest way to detect it in dense growth. It can be seen year-round, with activity concentrated in the cooler hours of morning and late afternoon.
Ethical Viewing Guidelines
- A distance of several metres is enough to watch this dove feeding or calling without flushing it, and slow, quiet movement works far better than a direct approach.
- As a native species in Australia it is protected under state and federal wildlife legislation, with specific permit requirements for any handling or disturbance, while rules in Papua New Guinea and Indonesia differ, so it is worth checking local regulations rather than assuming one set of protections applies throughout its range.
- Avoiding pursuit of a bird that walks away, rather than following it, keeps disturbance to a minimum.
LCAvesColumbiformesColumbidae
Seasonal Activity
406,542 sightings · 2000–2026
Citizen science records via GBIF
All monthsThis month
Classification
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Columbiformes
- Family
- Columbidae
Photo
Wikimedia Commons / Wikimedia Commons
CC-BY-SA-4.0
Occurrence data from GBIF.