Black-winged Ground Dove

Identificazione

The black-winged ground dove is 21 to 23 cm (8.3 to 9.1 in) long. Males weigh 89.1 to 114 g (3.14 to 4.02 oz) and females 86 to 96.1 g (3.03 to 3.39 oz). The nominate adult male is grayish brown or earth brown above with a faint pink tinge. The throat is whitish and the underparts fawn pink with gray flanks. The closed wing shows a white edge and some pale gray. The eye color is highly variable as is the bare skin that surrounds it. The adult female's upperparts are a duller brown than the male's and the underparts less pink. Juveniles do not have the adults' pink tinge, and many feathers have buff edges. M. m. saturatior differs from the nominate by being darker and grayer above and less pink below.<p>The nominate subspecies of black-winged ground dove is a year-round resident from central Peru and adjacent Bolivia south through most of Chile and western Argentina. It breeds but does not winter on Tierra del Fuego. M. m. saturatior is found in the Andes of southwestern Colombia south to Ecuador's Azuay Province.<p>The black-winged ground dove inhabits páramo in Colombia and Ecuador and puna in Peru, Bolivia, Chile, and Argentina. It is typically found in grassy areas near treeline but roosts in Polylepis woodland and Puya stands. In much of its range it occurs between 2,000 and 4,400 m (6,600 and 14,400 ft) but from 900 to 4,900 m (3,000 to 16,100 ft) in Chile. It moves to the lower elevations in winter.

Tassonomia

The black-winged ground dove has two subspecies, the nominate M. m. melanoptera and M. m. saturatior.

Nome scientifico

Metriopelia melanoptera

Autorità

(Molina, 1782)

Ordine

Columbiformi

Famiglia

Columbidae

Genere

Metriopelia

Areale e habitat

Migrazione

Migrazione verticale

Comportamento

Comportamento migratorio: Migrazione verticale.

Conservazione

Tendenza della popolazione: stabile.

Tendenza della popolazione

stabile