Red-billed pigeon

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Red-billed pigeon
Red-billed pigeon, Costa Rica

Red-billed pigeon, Costa Rica

Systematics
Class : Birds (aves)
Order : Pigeon birds (Columbiformes)
Family : Pigeons (Columbidae)
Genre : American pigeons ( Patagioenas )
Type : Red-billed pigeon
Scientific name
Patagioenas flavirostris
( Wagler , 1831)

The red-billed dove ( Patagioenas flavirostris ) is a species within the genus of the American field pigeons . It is a large, dark pigeon with gray and maroon plumage that is found in southern North America and Central America.

Four subspecies are described, which differ only slightly in their size and the amount of white in their large elytra.

The population of the red-billed pigeon was classified in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species in 2016 as " Least Concern (LC) " = "not endangered".

features

Red-billed pigeons reach a body length between 30 and 37 centimeters and are thus slightly smaller than a city ​​pigeon . The gender dimorphism is not very pronounced. Females are colored similarly to the males, but a little more dull overall. Young birds are similar to the females, but the adult chestnut-brown plumage is more reddish in them. Adult red-billed pigeons weigh between 268 and 424 grams.

The head, neck and the underside of the body to the belly are dark maroon. The flanks, the belly and the under tail-coverts are dark blue-gray. The tail is dark slate gray and turns black at the base of the tail. The mantle and the wings are olive-brown, the inner wing-covers are dark maroon and turn into a blue-gray on the outer wing-covers.

The iris is orange to red-orange. The orbital ring is dark red, the beak is reddish-purple at the base and brightens to a horn tone towards the tip. The feet are dark red.

The calls of the red-billed pigeon are a loud and powerful cugg cu-cu wooooo that is repeated several times.

Possible confusion

There is a possibility of confusion with the short-billed , scale-bellied and red-backed pigeons , which all belong to the same genus.

The red-backed pigeon has a lighter tail than the red-billed pigeon, whitish under-tail-covers and a light-colored belly. Their elytra are not blue-gray. The beak is black. The short-beaked pigeon, which is common in Central America, is smaller than the red-billed pigeon and brownish on the top of the body. Their blue-gray elytra are also missing. The scale-bellied pigeon is also smaller than the red-billed pigeon and has a lighter rump. Unlike the red-billed dove, the plumage is conspicuously scaled.

Distribution area and habitat

Red-billed pigeon, Costa Rica

The distribution area of ​​the red-billed pigeon extends from the south of North America to Costa Rica.

In the extreme southwest of Texas, the red-billed pigeon is a rare bird. It also occurs both on the Pacific and on the Caribbean coast of Mexico, where it reaches an altitude of 1800 meters. It is comparatively common on the Mexican peninsula of Yucatán . The southern limit of the distribution area is Costa Rica, where the altitude distribution extends to 2100 meters. It is a common bird in the arid northwest of Guanacaste , the northwestern province of Costa Rica. In contrast, it is rare in hot and humid coastal regions.

Red-billed pigeons are generally a very adaptable species that can be found in a number of forest and open landscape habitats. Basically, she prefers drier forests and forest edges. It is comparatively rare in rainy forest areas and primarily only occurs in the transition zone between forest and open landscape.

Way of life

Red-billed pigeons come in small groups. Large clusters of this type occasionally occur when there is an abundant supply of food. They mainly eat fruits and berries and have a particular predilection for the berries of mistletoe and acorns. They also come to eat on the ground and, for example, also eat germinating grain and millet. Because of this, they are classified as agricultural pests in some regions.

Red-billed pigeons nest in trees. The nest is a loose, second platform that is erected between 4.5 and 25 meters above the ground. The clutch consists of only one egg.

literature

  • David Gibbs, Eustace Barnes and John Cox: Pigeons and Doves - A Guide to the Pigeons and Doves of the World . Pica Press, Sussex 2001, ISBN 90-74345-26-3 .
  • Gerhard Rösler: The wild pigeons of the earth - free living, keeping and breeding . M. & H. Schaper Verlag, Alfeld-Hannover 1996, ISBN 3-7944-0184-0 .

Web links

Commons : Red-billed Pigeon  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Single receipts

  1. ↑ a b c Gibbs, Barnes and Cox: Pigeons and Doves , p. 227
  2. ↑ Rösler: The wild pigeons of the earth - free life, keeping and breeding . P. 105
  3. ↑ Patagioenas flavirostris in the endangered Red List species the IUCN 2016 Posted by: BirdLife International, 2016. Retrieved on 3 October 2017th
  4. ↑ a b c d Gibbs, Barnes and Cox: Pigeons and Doves , p. 226
  5. ↑ Voice of the red-billed dove on Xeno Canto , accessed on September 24, 2016