| Description:
Adult male:
Forehead, face below the eye, throat and breast are
black, giving the bird a mask-like appearance. The top
of the head, nape, face behind the eye and the back
of the neck are pale bluish-grey. Iris is blackish-brown.
The orbital skin forms a narrow greyish eye-ring. The
bill is reddish at the base and on the cere, however
the tip is orange-yellow. Mantle, scapulars, tertials
and inner secondaries, three innermost greater wing
feathers and lesser wing feathers are pale sandy-brown.
The back and rump are a duller greyish-brown grading
to a blackish brown on the tips of the uppertail feathers,
forming a narrow bar across the top of the tail. There
are two narrow blackish-brown bands on the mid-back
separated by narrow pale greyish band. The outer greater
and median wing feathers are pale bluish-grey. If the
wing is folded, the primary wing feathers are not visible.
Primaries are dark brown with the top edged white. Extended,
primary wing feathers show an extensive chestnut panel
edged dull brown. The top of the outermost primary feathers
are dull brown. The basal portion of the innerweb is
bright rufous. Outerwebs of sixth to ninth primaries
are edged brownish. The innerwebs are tipped dull brown
but are steadily less so. The rest of the innerwebs
are bright rufous. Five innermost primaries feahers
are rufous with narrow brown tips. The three outermost
secondaries are rufous with narrowly edged dull brown
on the tips. The rest of the secondaries are increasingly
pale, sandy-brown. Primary feathers are bright rufous
with blackish subterminal spots, mainly on tops. The
tail sharply graduates; inner feathers are greyish-brown,
next pair have bluish-grey bases with black tips, and
the following two pairs have bluish-grey bases with
broad black. The outermost tail feathers with entire
outerweb white, innerweb bluish-grey basally with subterminal
black bands and terminal bluish grey-spot. The lower
breast and belly, flanks and vent are clear snowy-white.
Undertail feathers, undertail and wing linings are black.
The feet and tarsi are purplish-red.
Adult
female: Females lack the black mask of the male and
therefore are similar in appearance to Turtur chalcospilos,
T. abyssinicus and T. afer. The head is dull greyish-brown
with whitish forehead, face and throat, obscure blackish
postcular spot and dull brown line from gape to eye.
The bill is uniformly purplish-brown. Otherwise the
female is like the male but rather duller greyish-brown
overall. The outer greater and median wing feathers
are more greyish-brown.
Juvenile:
Juveniles are generally pale greyish-brown. The head
is greyish with pale edgings on the top. The face has
the postocular blackish spot. The bill is dull grey
on the base and cere with black at the tip.Some feathering
above bands on back and uppertail coverts are buff tipped
with black subterminal bands. Below, the juvenile is
like the adult female. Wings are similar but duller
than in adults. Innermost secondaries, tertials and
scapulars are broadly tipped buff-brown with black subterminal
bands on secondaries and tertials. Scapulars have only
a black subterminal spot. The greater and median wing
feathers are greyish brown, broadly tipped whitish with
blackish subterminal black bands followed by buff bands.
Inner wing feathers are a mix of white-edged grey feathers
and black feathers broadly tipped buff.
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