Scaled Pigeon
From Freepedia
| Scaled Pigeon | ||||||||||||||
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| Columba speciosa (Gmelin, 1789) |
The Scaled Pigeon, Columba speciosa, is a large New World tropical dove. It is a resident breeder from southern Mexico south to western Ecuador, southern Brazil, northern Argentina, and Trinidad.
The Scaled Pigeon is fairly common in semi-open forest. It builds a stick platform nest in a tree and lays two white eggs.
Its flight is high, fast and direct, with the regular beats and an occasional sharp flick of the wings which are characteristic of pigeons in general. It is usually very wary, since it is frequently hunted.
The Scaled Pigeon is 36cm long and weighs normally about 290g . Adult males have mainly purple brown plumage, with a paler scaly appearance to the neck and underparts. The lower underparts are whitish edged with purple. The eyering, legs and bill are red, the latter having a white tip. The female is dull dark brown rather than purplish, and is slightly smaller than the male.
Scaled Pigeons feed mainly on forest fruits and seeds. The call is a deep cooing cro-kuk. This is a solitary bird which does not form flocks.
References
- Birds of Venezuela by Hilty, ISBN 0-7136-6418-5
- Birds of Trinidad and Tobago by ffrench, ISBN 0-7136-6759-1
- A guide to the birds of Costa Rica by Stiles and Skutch ISBN 0-0814-9600-4
