A Survey of the Lace-necked Dove in Hawaii 
Charles W. Schwartz and Elizabeth Reeder Schwartz^ 
Streptopelia chinensts chinensis (Scopoli), popu- 
larly called the Lace-necked or Spotted 
Dove because of its characteristic feather 
pattern, is a common member of the intro- 
duced avifauna of the Hawaiian Islands. No 
information is available concerning the date 
or exact source of its importation from east- 
ern China to Hawaii, but this dove was very 
common on Oahu in 1879 (Caum, 1933) and 
had become established on the other major 
islands sometime prior to 1900 according to 
long-time residents interviewed during this 
survey. 
Lace-necked Doves are now permanent 
residents on all the major Hawaiian Islands. 
Kahoolawe, a 45 -square-mile bombing target 
under military jurisdiction and 6V2 miles off- 
shore from Maui, was not visited during this' 
survey but it is likely that Lace-necked Doves 
live there. No personal observations were 
made on Niihau, but the owners of this 72- 
square-mile island reported in conversation 
that Lace-necked Doves were well established 
there and this report has been confirmed by 
Fisher (MS). The Lace-necked Dove has 
been observed to fly between the islands of 
Niihau and Kauai, a distance of 18 miles, and 
it is conceivable that this species may have 
voluntarily established itself on the major 
islands other than Oahu, the probable site of 
original planting. If this is so, the greatest 
flight over open water would have occurred 
between Oahu and Kauai, a distance of 73 
miles. The alternative of transportation from 
one island to another by humans is likewise 
plausible. 
^Biologists, Conservation Commission, Jefferson 
City, Missouri. Manuscript received June 22, 1950. 
DISTRIBUTION AND POPULATION 
Climatic conditions and the vegetative pat- 
tern define the limits of the range of the Lace- 
necked Dove in the Hawaiian Islands and 
influence the use of a given area and its popu- 
lation density. The range of this species oc- 
curs mostly from sea level to 4,000 feet ele- 
vation (Fig. 2), where mean annual tempera- 
tures grade from 75° F. at the lowest elevation 
to 60° F. at the highest elevation; however, 
in one area on Hawaii it reaches 8,000 feet, 
where the mean annual temperature is es- 
timated to be around 40° F. Depending on the 
locality, rainfall in the Hawaiian range of this 
species varies from less than 10 inches up to a 
maximum of 250 inches annually. Lace- 
necked Doves are found in pineapple and 
sugar cane plantations, in pastures and waste 
lands, in small truck gardens, homesteads, 
and urban areas, and in openings of forested 
sections; dense forests and barren lava are 
uninhabited. 
In order to evaluate this distribution and 
the abundance of Lace-necked Doves, we 
have employed the classification of Vegeta- 
tion Zones of Hawaii (Ripperton and Hosaka, 
1942), which correlates climatic conditions, 
the vegetation pattern, and land use through- 
out Hawaii. While these zones are referred to 
here, their descriptions and maps are not re- 
peated because of summaries in two other 
publications (Schwartz and Schwartz, 1949 
and 1950). 
Range, populations, and densities of the 
Lace-necked Dove are given according to 
vegetation zone in Table 1. Strip counts were 
made in all occupied range and formed the 
basis for densities representing daytime dis- 
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