Tolima Dove
Leptotila conoveri
Shy dove found only in Andean cloud forest in central Colombia. The dull reddish-purple color on neck and breast, gray crown, and pale eye separate it from the much more common and widespread White-tipped Dove. Usually stays well hidden, but sometimes comes out into the open in clearings and along quiet roads, especially early in the morning. Gives low, well-spaced coos.
Identification
The Tolima dove is 22.5 to 25 cm (8.9 to 9.8 in) long. It has a blue-gray to dark gray crown and a reddish hindneck with a violet gloss. Its upper mantle is reddish gray overlain with iridescent violet and the rest of the upperparts are dark gray with purple iridescence. The wings are browner and the tail is slaty with white tips on the outer feathers. The throat is white and the breast reddish pink with a sharp division between it and the buff lower breast and belly.
Taxonomy
The Tolima dove is monotypic. It is closely related to the grey-chested dove (Leptotila cassinii) and ochre-bellied dove (Leptotila ochraceiventris), and might form a superspecies with them.
- Scientific name
- Leptotila conoveri
- Authority
- Bond, J & Meyer de Schauensee, 1943
- Order
- Columbiformes
- Family
- Columbidae
- Genus
- Leptotila
Range and habitat
The Tolima dove was believed to be limited to the eastern slope of Colombia's central Andes in Tolima and Huila Departments. In 2014 it was discovered in Cundinamarca Department in the eastern Andes. It mostly inhabits the interior and edges of humid subtropical forest, in an elevation range of 1,200 to 2,500 m (3,900 to 8,200 ft). However, in the canyon of the Combeima River it is found in disturbed areas including coffee plantations and near human habitation.
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
The Tolima dove has been reported as feeding mainly on Bocconia frutescens seeds but nothing else is known about its diet or foraging habits.<p>Observations of Tolima doves in breeding condition, eggs, and nestlings indicate a nesting season that extends at least from March to September. It builds a shallow bowl nest of heavy twigs in bushes or small trees, usually no more than 2 m (6.6 ft) above the ground. The clutch size is two eggs.<p>The Tolima dove's song is "a single slightly over-slurred note “wooOOOooo”, with a clear emphasis in the middle."
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
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