Plain-breasted ground dove

Plain-breasted ground dove
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Columbiformes
Family:	Columbidae
Genus:	Columbina
Species:	C. minuta
Binomial name
Columbina minuta (Linnaeus, 1766)

The plain-breasted ground dove (Columbina minuta) is a species of bird in the Columbidae family. They lack the scaled appearance to the feathers of the similar and typically more abundant common ground dove. With a total length of approximately 14–16 cm (5.5-6.3 in) and a weight of 24–26 g (0.85–0.92 oz), this species averages slightly smaller than the common ground dove. The plain-breasted ground dove may be the smallest pigeons or doves by mass, though the more heavily built but almost tailess dwarf fruit dove of Southeast Asia is typically shorter in overall length.

It is found in Argentina, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, French Guiana, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, and Venezuela. Its natural habitats are dry savanna, subtropical or tropical dry shrubland, subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland, subtropical or tropical seasonally wet or flooded lowland grassland, and heavily degraded former forest.

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