Pallid Dove
Leptotila pallida
A rather plain medium-sized dove, mostly restricted to western Ecuador but also occurs in western Colombia and extreme northwestern Peru. Within range, the main confusion species is White-tipped Dove. Pallid Dove has notably darker and warmer brown upperparts that contrast more with the whitish underparts. Like other members of the genus, Pallid is typically found on the ground (or flushing up into the understory). It is most often seen walking on roads or trails, or flying across quickly. There are a few places where it visits feeders. Within its limited range, it is fairly common, but be careful to separate from the equally (or more) common White-tipped Dove. Listen for its low-pitched, single “hoo” call.
Identification
The pallid dove is 23 to 26 cm (9.1 to 10.2 in) long. The male has a white forehead, face, and throat, a gray crown, and a purplish gray nape and hindneck. The sides of the neck and the breast are pale red and the belly white. Its upperparts are chestnut-brown with some chestnut-red markings. The hindneck and upper mantle have some purple iridescence. The outer tail feathers are dark chestnut with white tips. The eye is yellow and surrounded by bare red skin. The bill is black and the legs and feet pinkish red to brownish red. The female has less of a reddish tone on the upperparts and its pink and gray areas are duller.
Taxonomy
The pallid dove is monotypic. It, the grey-fronted dove (Leptotila rufaxilla) of South America, the grey-headed dove (L. plumbeiceps) of South and Central America, the Azuero dove (Leptotila battyi) of Panama, and the Grenada dove (L. wellsi) of Grenada were at one time thought to be a single species. It has also been treated as a suspecies of grey-fronted dove.
- Scientific name
- Leptotila pallida
- Authority
- Berlepsch & Taczanowski, 1884
- Order
- Columbiformes
- Family
- Columbidae
- Genus
- Leptotila
Range and habitat
The pallid dove is found in the tropical lowlands of western South America, from the Chocó Department of west-central Colombia through Ecuador into far northwestern Peru's Department of Tumbes. It is a bird of the Chocó bioregion of endemism, where it inhabits both primary and secondary tropical evergreen forest and dryer semi-deciduous woodland. In elevation it ranges from sea level up to 800 m (2,600 ft).
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
The pallid dove is usually seen singly or in pairs. Very little is known about its foraging habits or diet, but it has been recorded feeding on the ground and eating bananas at a feeder.<p>Essentially nothing is known about the pallid dove's breeding phenology.<p>The pallid dove's song is "a single mournful monotonous note 'wooOOOoo' which fades in and out" and is very similar to that of the grey-fronted dove.
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Plain Gerygone
Gerygone inornata
A tiny, warbler-shaped songbird confined to the eastern Lesser Sundas. Upperparts gray-brown; underparts clean, unmarked white. Note subtle white mark between bill and eye, and beady-eyed appearance. Juveniles washed yellow below. Inhabits forest, edge, mangroves, and scrub from coast to mountains. Sits high in the understory, singly or in pairs. Unmistakable, as the only tiny gray-and-white warbler-like bird in range. Warbling song comprises a series of high-pitched, descending whistled phrases such as “pee-pee-ooo-ooo-pee-ooo-ooo”. Calls often and for prolonged periods.
Black Coucal
Centropus grillii
Small coucal of marshes, swamps, and wet grassland. Distinctive in breeding plumage: black with a rufous wing. In non-breeding plumage, buffy and streaked. Skulks in the undergrowth, occasionally emerging to sit on an exposed perch. Vocalizations are a two part “kuu-kuk” and a descending and accelerating series of “tow” notes. In non-breeding plumage, separated from White-browed and immature Senegal coucals by its slightly smaller size and lack of a white eye stripe.
Indigo Bunting
Passerina cyanea
Breeding males are entirely blue with a slightly darker head. Females are plain brown with a whitish throat, bluish tail, and faint streaks on the underparts. Breeds in shrubby areas at the edge of forests and fields. Males often sing from a high exposed perch. Winters mainly in Middle America and the Caribbean, where it frequently gathers in flocks in weedy fields. Females can be very difficult to distinguish from Lazuli Bunting, although their range doesn't overlap much. Indigo usually shows more streaking on the underparts; also note fainter wingbars, duller breast, and more contrasting whitish throat.
Start Your Bird Watching Journey
Identify a bird outdoors and keep the field guide close for your next observation.