SIZE, SHAPE AND COLOUR : 33cm long.  Weighs 280 to  400 gms.  Blue grey plumage; very variable, double black wing bars,  white to bluish and red rumps, again variable.

BIOLOGY : Can breed throughout the year but peaks in March and July, two white eggs laid on consecutive days.  Incubation 18 days. 4 to 5 weeks later young leave the nest.  Up to 9 broods per year.

PREFERRED FOODS :  Very varied and chiefly cereal based, bread, cake, grain  and seeds eaten and will scavenge on many spillages of raw food materials.

HABITAT : Urban and rural.  Attracted to bakeries, flour mills, cereal processors.  Lives under loading bay canopies and in old disused buildings.  Will exploit broken windows, proofing defects and damage to building fabric.