The Namaqua dove (Oena capensis) is a small pigeon. It is the only species in the genus Oena. It is found over much of Sub-Saharan Africa as well as Arabia and Madagascar. Taxonomy The Namaqua dove is the only species in the monotypic genus Oena. It is most closely related to doves in the genus Turtur, and some phylogenetic evidence suggests that Oena may be a part of Turtur. In 1760 the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson included a description of the Namaqua dove in his six volume Ornithologie based on a specimen collected near the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa. He used the French name La tourterelle du Cap de Bonne Espérance and the Latin Turtur capitis bonae spei. Although Brisson coined Latin names, these do not conform to the binomial system and are not recognised by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature. When in 1766 the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus updated his Systema Naturae for the twelfth edition, he added 240 species that had been previously described by Brisson. One of these was the Namaqua dove which he placed with the other pigeons in the genus Columba. Linnaeus included a brief description, coined the binomial name Columba capensis and cited Brisson's work. The specific name capensis denotes the Cape of Good Hope. The Namaqua dove is placed in its own genus Oena that was introduced by the English naturalist William John Swainson in 1837. The genus name is from the Ancient Greek oinas meaning "pigeon". Alternative names for the Namaqua dove include Cape dove and long-tailed dove. Subspecies Two subspecies are recognised: O. c. capensis – Linnaeus, 1766: The nominate subspecies, it is found in sub-Saharan Africa, the Arabian peninsula, southern Israel, southwestern Jordan, and on Socotra. O. c. aliena – Bangs, 1918: Found on Madagascar. Males have darker crowns and upperparts, whiter necks and breasts, narrower black foreheads and face-bands, and pale grey undertail coverts. Both sexes have rounder-tipped retrices and tend to be smaller than the nominate. Description The Namaqua dove is a tiny sparrow-sized pigeon, typically 22 cm in length with a 28–33 cm wingspan, and weighing 40g. It has a very long black tapered tail, and the size and shape have led to comparison with the budgerigar. The plumage is mostly grey apart from a white belly, and chestnut primary feathers which are visible in flight. The adult male has a yellow