Lemon Dove

The lemon dove is fairly small, measuring 24–30 cm (9.4–11.8 in) in length and weighing 81.7–150 g (2.88–5.29 oz). Adults have a plumage that is dark brown above, weakly glossed iridescent greenish to bronze (depending on light angle) on the sides of the neck, and cinnamon brown below, and with a pale whitish face grading into the brown body plumage. The feet, iris and orbital skin are red, the bill is black. Males and females are very similar, though females slightly duller. Juveniles are less iridescent, have lighter brown plumage with pale fringes on the wing covert and body feathers giving a barred appearance, and duller grey facial markings. The western African subspecies have greyer plumage than those of southern and eastern Africa.

The lemon dove has a very wide range and is distributed in montane forests in sub-Saharan Africa, ranging from 100 to 3,000 metres (330 to 9,840 ft) altitude in eastern Africa. The diet consists mainly of various small fruits, seeds, molluscs and insects. The female usually lays two creamy white eggs.

Widespread throughout its range, the population trend of the lemon dove is stable and the bird is evaluated as a species of least concern on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. In southern Africa, it is fairly common in evergreen forests and plantations close to the south and east coasts, where it mainly feeds on the ground; it is shy and unobtrusive, often heard but not easily seen. It seems to be declining in certain parts of its range; in Tanzania it is not rare above 1,300 metres (4,300 ft) altitude in the Nguu North Forest Reserve, but not at all common in some lower-lying habitat. It is nearly absent from the southeast of that country.