HADDAD, K., CHETIBI, M., AFOUTNI, L. & MAURAS, D. 2023. Status of Namaqua Dove in Algeria and recent observations in 2022 [Statut de la Tourterelle masquée en Algérie et observations récentes en 2022]. Dutch Birding, 45 (2): 123-126.
From 3 to 6 April 2022, a naturalist expedition was carried out in the region of Tamanrasset in southern Algeria by Larbi Afoutni and Mehdi Chetibi (association EcoCirta) and Daniel Mauras. In the morning of 5 April at c 07:00, a male Namaqua Dove Oena capensis was observed landing in the middle of a large acacia tree at Tabarkat, north of Tamanrasset, (22°47’46”N, 05°33’59”E; figure 1) by the three participants. After a few photographs were taken by DM (plate 115), the bird quickly flew to the ground a few meters further; however, it quickly resumed flight when it was approached and lost from view. The identification as a male Namaqua was straightforward, based on the small size for a dove, long and graduated and pointed tail, black face, throat and upperbreast, grey-brown upperparts, pale underparts, rufous outer wing (just visible in plate 115), grey-brown wing coverts with dark isolated spots and orange-red bill (cf Gibbs et al 2001). The black mask and colourfull bill are characteristic for males (Sinclair & Ryan 2011). The site was located on the edge of the right bank of Oued Tamanrasset not far from the Adriane mountain at an altitude of 1400 m, on the eastern fringe of the city and outside the conurbation. There was a mixture of arable land, a few large trees and some small water basins. Several wells have been dug and a few small open-air water basins built. Other bird species observed at the site included Laughing Dove Streptopelia senegalensis, Collared Dove S decaocto, feral Rock Pigeon Columba livia, Egyptian Vulture Neophron percnopterus, Eurasian Hoopoe Upupa epops, Brown-necked Raven Corvus ruficollis, Saharan Olivaceous Warbler Iduna pallida reiseri, Rufous-tailed Scrub Robin Cercotrichas galactotes, White-crowned Wheatear Oenanthe leucopyga, African Silverbill Euodice cantans, Senegal Firefinch Lagonosticta senegala and House Bunting Emberiza sahari. On 12 October 2022, at least two males and a juvenile Namaqua Dove were observed and photographed by Kamel Torki in the wilaya of Bordj Badji Mokhtar in extreme southern Algeria, close to the border with Mali (plate 116-117). He published his sighting on Facebook (https://tinyurl.com/4uuz96u2) and informed Khaled Ayyach, Mourad Harzallah and Mohamed Missoum, who came to the site to take photographs on 12-14 October (eBird 2022, iNaturalist 2022; plate 118). They reported six, 18 and one individuals, respectively, on the three consecutive days but without further details of sex and age. Some birds were well photographed and identified and sexed based on the same characters as described above for the bird at Tabarkat. From 1 to 8 December 2022, during a photographic journey to southern Algeria led by Hakim Benmokhtar, the group of photographers encounterd Namaqua Doves at two sites. On 3 December, two females were observed in flight and poorly photographed north of In Guezzam (19°36’38.293”N, 05°47’4.135”E). On 6 December, two males, two females and a juvenile were observed and photographed c 30 km south of Tamanrasset (22°30’4.97”N, 05°29’24.566”E).
