Short-billed Pigeon
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| Patagioenas nigrirostris (Sclater, 1860) |
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Columba nigrirostris Sclater, 1860 |
The Short-billed Pigeon, Patagioenas nigrirostris (see Johnson et al., 2001), is a largish pigeon which breeds from southern Mexico south to northwestern Colombia.
It is found in lowland forest canopy and semi-open woodland, and builds a rudimentary platform nest out of twigs 5-30 m high in a tree or amongst vines. It lays one white egg.
The Short-billed Pigeon is 26.5 cm long and weighs 150 g. It is unpatterned and mainly wine-purple in colour, becoming browner on the belly and more olive-brown on the back. The tail and primary flight feathers are blackish, the bill is black, and the legs and eyes are purple-red. The female is slightly duller and browner than the male, and the juvenile bird has a greyish brown head, neck and breast, with cinnamon scaling on the head and upperparts.
Short-billed Pigeon has a loud cu-COO k’-COO call. It is normally sighted in pairs as it forages in the tree tops for mistletoe, fruits and berries, but may also be seen on tracks and roadsides seeking grit or small invertebrates.
This species is replaced at higher altitudes by the very similar Ruddy Pigeon, Patagioenas subvinacea.
[edit] References
- Johnson, Kevin P.; de Kort, Selvino; Dinwoodey, Karen, Mateman, A. C.; ten Cate, Carel; Lessells, C. M. & Clayton, Dale H. (2001): A molecular phylogeny of the dove genera Streptopelia and Columba. Auk 118(4): 874-887. PDF fulltext
- Stiles, F. Gary & Skutch, Alexander F. (1990): A guide to the birds of Costa Rica. Cornell University Press. ISBN 0-8014-9600-4
