Excellent year for rarities in the Atlantic Sahara: a Namaqua Dove (Oena capensis, Tourterelle masquée, Tórtola de El Cabo) at Safia today (Abdeljebbar Qninba).

There were only two previous records in the Atlantic Sahara: a bird at Dakhla in June 1988 (P.C. Beaubrun in Thévenot, M. ; Vernon, R. & Bergier, P. 2003. The Birds of Morocco. BOU Checklist No. 20) and a male at Oued Sayed on 9 April 2011 (M. Demeulemeester et al. in Bergier et al. 2012).

In addition, there are two other Moroccan records not far from the Atlantic Sahara: a male in breeding condition at Taghjicht, Western Anti-Atlas, on 10 May 1942 (Heim de Balsac & Heim de Balsac 1949-1951) and a bird at Agadir on 8 and 10 February 1981 (Thévenot, M. ; Vernon, R. & Bergier, P. 2003. The Birds of Morocco. BOU Checklist No. 20).

In Northern Mauritania, the Namaqua Dove breeds in the Adrar and there are sightings in the coastal region of Nouâdhibou (Isenmann et al. 2010).