Ruddy Pigeon

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Ruddy Pigeon

Scientific classification

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Columbiformes
Family:	Columbidae
Genus:	Patagioenas
Species:	P. subvinacea

Binomial name

Patagioenas subvinacea
(Lawrence, 1868)

Synonyms

Chloroenas subvinacea Lawrence, 1868
Columba subvinacea

The Ruddy Pigeon, Patagioenas subvinacea (see Johnson et al. 2001), is a largish pigeon which breeds from Costa Rica south to western Ecuador, Bolivia and central Brazil. It belongs to a clade of small and rather plain species of Patagioenas with characteristic calls (Johnson et al. 2001) that constitute the subgenus Oenoenas (Mahler & Tubaro 2001).

It is found in highland forest canopy and semi-open woodland from 1500 m altitude to the timberline. It builds a rudimentary platform nest out of twigs 5 m high in a small tree, and lays one white egg.

The Ruddy Pigeon is 28 cm long and weighs 170 g. It is unpatterned and mainly wine-purple in colour, becoming more rufous on the back. The tail and primary flight feathers are dark brown, 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 or rufous scaling on the head and upperparts.

Ruddy Pigeon has a loud and fairly high-pitched coo, ko'COO coo call, with considerable pauses between calls just as in its relatives (Mahler & Tubaro 2001). It is normally seen in pairs as it forages in the tree tops for mistletoe, fruits and berries, but may occasionally be seen on tracks and roadside seeking grit.

This species is replaced at lower altitudes by its close relative, the very similar Short-billed Pigeon, Patagioenas nigrirostris. The two species are best separated by call, which is faster and less complex in this species (Mahler & Tubaro 2001).

[edit] References

BirdLife International (2004). Patagioenas subvinacea. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 11 May 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern

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

Mahler, Bettina & Tubaro, Pablo L. (2001): Relationship between song characters and morphology in New World pigeons. Biol. J. Linn. Soc. 74(4): 533–539. DOI:10.1006/bijl.2001.0596 (HTML abstract)