Gray-fronted Dove
Leptotila rufaxilla
Large terrestrial dove found in a variety of habitats including forest edges, dense secondary growth, and mature forest understory. Skulking and easy to overlook, but can often be seen walking on quiet trails early and late in the day. In flight, white tips on outer tail feathers are often visible, like in similar White-tipped Dove, but with less extensive white. Also distinguished from that species by red, not blue skin around eye, and brighter more contrasting gray forehead. Frequently heard song is a mournful “hoop,” repeated every 5–10 seconds, particularly in the morning.
Identification
The grey-fronted dove is about 28 cm (11 in) long and weighs 115 to 183 g (4.1 to 6.5 oz). Adult males of the nominate subspecies have a grayish to bluish forehead ("front"), a bluish gray crown, and a grayish purple nape and hindneck with some iridescence. The yellow or brown eye is surrounded by bare red skin that is itself surrounded by pinkish white feathers. The throat is also pinkish white and the rest of the face buff to pinkish buff. The upperparts are olive-brown with faint bronze or purplish on the mantle. The central tail feathers are also olive-brown and the outer ones blackish with obvious white tips. The breast and sides of the neck are greyish pink shading to white on the belly. The bill is black and the legs and feet red. The adult nominate female is browner than the male, with more of an olive cast to the flanks and green-tinged upperparts. The juvenile is similar to the female but its breast has rust and drab brown bars and the upperparts' feathers show rusty edges. The other subspecies differ somewhat in size and their colors are redder, pinker, or grayer than the nominate.
Taxonomy
The grey-fronted dove, the grey-headed dove (Leptotila plumbeiceps) and azuero dove (L. battyi) of Central America, the pallid dove (L. pallida) of South America, and the Grenada dove (L. wellsi) of Grenada were at one time thought to be a single species. Even after these were split into individual species, some authors treated pallid dove as a subspecies of grey-fronted dove. Grey-fronted dove, grey-headed dove, and pallid dove are possibly a superspecies.<p>The grey-fronted dove has these six subspecies. The population in Suriname, here included in the nominate L. r. rufaxilla, has been proposed as a seventh subspecies, L. r. hypochroos.
- Scientific name
- Leptotila rufaxilla
- Authority
- (Richard & Bernard, 1792)
- Order
- Columbiformes
- Family
- Columbidae
- Genus
- Leptotila
Range and habitat
The grey-fronted dove is a resident breeder in South America on Trinidad and east of the Andes from Colombia, Venezuela and the Guyanas south to Paraguay, Uruguay, and northeastern Argentina. The subspecies are found thus:<p>The grey-fronted dove inhabits humid forest, generally in the interior but also at the edges and in clearings. In Colombia it has been recorded in várzea, terra firme, and gallery forests. In elevation it is found below 550 m (1,800 ft) in Venezuela and locally as high as 2,200 m (7,200 ft) in southeastern Brazil.
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
The grey-fronted dove forages on the forest floor, eating seeds, small fruit such as berries, insects such as small butterflies and moths, and other invertebrates. It has also been recorded eating bananas and rice at feeding stations.<p>The grey-fronted dove breeds almost year round in Trinidad; elsewhere its breeding season is shorter. It builds a platform nest of twigs in a bush, tree, or palm and lays one or two white eggs.<p>The grey-fronted dove's song is "a single mournful monotonous note 'wooOOOoo' which fades in and out."
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Pheucticus ludovicianus
Breeding adult males are striking black and white with bright red triangle on breast. Nonbreeding males, females, and immatures are streaky below with a bold head pattern. Always look for the very thick, pale pinkish bill. Fairly common and widespread in eastern North America, especially in deciduous forests. Winters to northern South America. Visits feeders. Listen for sweet robinlike song and squeaky call. Females are sometimes confused with Purple Finch but note much larger overall size, large pinkish bill, and bolder white markings on wings. Also compare females and immature males with extremely similar Black-headed Grosbeak, which is usually identifiable by range. Rose-breasted usually has more extensive, coarser streaking on underparts and usually lacks orange tones.
Giant Antshrike
Batara cinerea
Huge antshrike with a rather long tail and a strong, heavily hooked bill. Males are barred black and white above and gray below, with a black cap that can be erected. Females look similar, but are barred black and cinnamon above and buff below with a cinnamon cap. Usually seen in pairs in the dense understory and middle levels of humid forests mostly in and around bamboo patches.
White-throated Flycatcher
Empidonax albigularis
Rather drab, small flycatcher of marshes and semiopen areas with bushes and hedges; winters mainly in lowland marshes. Flicks tail upward when perched. Looks similar to several other species in the genus Empidonax. Best identified by its distinctive call: a burry, slightly sneezy “rreeah,” quite different from Willow Flycatcher, which often occurs alongside White-throated in winter. Also note the whitish throat, buffy wingbars and flanks, and the lack of a distinct pale eyering.
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