Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo [The Democratic Republic of the], Congo [The Democratic Republic of the], Côte dIvoire, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-bissau, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania [United Republic of], Togo, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe.
Senegambia through most of western and central Africa to Ethiopia and Eritrea, and south through Zaire to southern Angola, south-central Zambia, eastern Zimbabwe, southern Mozambique and extreme eastern South Africa. Said to occur on Bioko (Fernando Póo), but this is now considered unlikely.
Rarity Status
Currently this species is not classified as a rarity in this country OR information has not been updated.
Population
Estimated population is unknown (2010).
Blue-spotted Wood Dove (Turtur afer) [XC444680]
by Rick Nuttall from Tartar Falls, West Pokot County, Kenya (call)
Blue-spotted Wood Dove (Turtur afer) [XC400463]
by Frank Lambert from Shai Hills RR, Ghana (song)
Subspecies
Related to Black-billed Wood-Dove (Turtur abyssinicus), and often occurs sympatrically with either Black-billed Wood-Dove (Turtur abyssinicus) or Emerald-spotted Wood-Dove (Turtur chalcospilos). Birds of highlands of Ethiopia formerly awarded subspecies mearnsi, and those of Mt Kilimanjaro zone subspecies kilimensis, but neither nowadays considered valid.
BirdLife International Species Factsheet