Birds Of The World: Diamon Dove.

Scientific name: Geopelia cuneata.
Family: Columbidae.
Length: 20 cm.
Habitat: Areas arid semi-desert and desert, usually nearby bush.
Distribution: Much of Australia, including the interior, but not in the south and east.
Identification: small dove, grey top with brown spots diamond lined with black and white in the wings. Head, neck and chest blue, pale color more at the bottom. Eyes orange surrounded by a red ring.

The diamond dove is one of the world's smallest dove and the smallest of the native of Australia, but looks very attractive thanks to the diamond speckles of the wings. It's common to see it in pairs or in small groups in arid open, and often hidden in shrubs or small trees, often near a water source, who visits every day at dusk after eating. feed on grass seeds and other plants moving at the same time its long tail. The diamond tortolitas can breed several clutches each year and the male carries out a bridal procession deployed and shaking the wings. Like most pigeons and dove, the female lays two eggs in a nest of branches located in a tree, which both parents incubate for two weeks. Young people are nurtured with the "crop milk" and can eat seeds Spitting Up in a few days. They grow quickly and conclude the development of plumage in two weeks. The first domesticated copies arrived in Europe in the 1870's. Breeding in captivity with ease and is one of the most common species of turtle dove into the aviaries.