Gray-fronted Quail-Dove
Geotrygon caniceps
A multicolored chunky dove of dense, wet forests with thick leaf-litter. It is most often found on the ground, sometimes in association with Blue-headed or Ruddy Quail-Doves. Walks with an unusual posture with chest down, head forward, and tail up. Its unstriped head, pale gray forehead, and largely iridescent body eliminate other species within range. Song is upslurred repeated “cooo-oop,” sometimes preceded by “oo-oo-oo-oo-oo.”
Identification
The male grey-fronted quail-dove is 26 to 30 cm (10 to 12 in) long and the female 27 cm (11 in). They weigh 192 to 210 g (6.8 to 7.4 oz). The adult male's forehead ("front") is grayish white darkening to gray on the rest of the head, with slight purplish iridescence on the back of it. The medium gray throat darkens on the breast, whose sides are gossy purple. The belly is cream and the vent area rufous. The shoulders are glossy purple, the lower back and rump bluish purple, and the tail gray. The adult female is very similar but duller. Juveniles have a brownish gray forehead, pale gray throat, dark brown upperparts, and chestnut underparts.
Taxonomy
The grey-fronted quail-dove and most of what are now the other species in genus Geotrygon were previously in genus Oreopeleia. In addition, it was considered conspecific with what is now the white-fronted quail-dove (Geotrygon leucometopia) under the name "grey-headed quail-dove". Though the taxonomies of the North American Classification Committee of the American Ornithological Society (AOS), the International Ornithological Committee (IOC), and Clements use the English name "grey-fronted quail-dove" for the current G. caniceps, the Handbook of the Birds of the World retains the pre-split "grey-headed quail-dove" name for it.<p>The grey-fronted quail-dove is monotypic.
- Scientific name
- Geotrygon caniceps
- Authority
- (Gundlach, 1852)
- Order
- Columbiformes
- Family
- Columbidae
- Genus
- Geotrygon
Range and habitat
The grey-fronted quail-dove was formerly found throughout Cuba but is now apparently limited to the island's eastern margin and the Sierra del Rosario in the west. It favors wet primary and secondary forests in the lowlands and at elevations up to 1,200 m (3,900 ft).
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
Migration pattern: Resident species.
Conservation
Population trend: declining.
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
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