Common Ground Dove
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| Common Ground Dove | ||||||||||||||
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| Columbina passerina (Linnaeus, 1758) |
The Common Ground Dove (Columbina passerina) is a small New World tropical dove. It is a resident breeder from the southmost USA through Mexico and the Caribbean to South America as far as northern Brazil.
The Common Ground Dove inhabits scrub and other open country. It builds a flimsy stick nest in a tree and lays two white eggs. Its flight is fast and direct, with the regular beats and an occasional sharp flick of the wings which are characteristic of pigeons in general.
Common Ground Doves are tiny short-tailed pigeons at 17cm. Their weight is normally about 32g (1oz). Adult birds have grey-brown back and upperwing plumage, with black spotting on the wing coverts. They have a scaly appearance to the breast and head. The tail is brown centrally, with black edges and white corners. The bill is orange, tipped black. In flight, the underwings show extensive chestnut colouration.
The adult male has a pink head, neck and breast, and a pink unscaled belly. The nape is blue. The female and juvenile are light grey where the male is pink, and have grey napes.
Common Ground Doves feed mainly on seeds, but feeds on some insects. The call is a soft cooing wha-up.