The bridled quail-dove (''Geotrygon mystacea'') is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...

in the family

Columbidae Columbidae () is a bird family consisting of doves and pigeons. It is the only family in the order Columbiformes. These are stout-bodied birds with short necks and short slender bills that in some species feature fleshy ceres. They primarily ...

. It is found from

Saint Lucia Saint Lucia ( acf, Sent Lisi, french: Sainte-Lucie) is an island country of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean. The island was previously called Iouanalao and later Hewanorra, names given by the native Arawaks and Caribs, two Amerindian ...

in the

Lesser Antilles The Lesser Antilles ( es, link=no, Antillas Menores; french: link=no, Petites Antilles; pap, Antias Menor; nl, Kleine Antillen) are a group of islands in the Caribbean Sea. Most of them are part of a long, partially volcanic island arc betwe ...

north and west to

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...

.Boal, C. W. (2020). Bridled Quail-Dove (''Geotrygon mystacea''), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (T. S. Schulenberg, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.brqdov1.01 retrieved September 20, 2021

Taxonomy and systematics

The bridled quail-dove is

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispec ...

. It has been suggested that it and the

Key West quail-dove The Key West quail-dove (''Geotrygon chrysia'') is a species of bird from the doves and pigeon family Columbidae. It is probably most closely related to the bridled quail-dove.Baptista, L.F., Trail, P.W., Horblit, H.M., Kirwan, G.M. & Boesman, P ...

(''Geotrygon chrysia'') form a superspecies.

Description

Specimens of bridled quail-dove from several islands had mean weights between with fairly large

standard deviation In statistics, the standard deviation is a measure of the amount of variation or dispersion of a set of values. A low standard deviation indicates that the values tend to be close to the mean (also called the expected value) of the set, while ...

s. These data and measurements of various body parts suggest that the species "has low morphometric variance across its distribution." Adult bridled quail-doves are mostly brown. They have a bold white stripe across the face below the eye and a small white patch on the throat. The male's head and nape are iridescent green which becomes blues and violets on the lower neck and upper back; females have less iridescence. The tail is dark brownish gray and the belly cream. The folded wing shows some cinnamon markings.

Distribution and habitat

The bridled quail-dove is or was found from Puerto Rico south and east through the Lesser Antilles to Saint Lucia. As of 2009, it was generally uncommon to rare throughout its range, and might have been

extirpated Local extinction, also known as extirpation, refers to a species (or other taxon) of plant or animal that ceases to exist in a chosen geographic area of study, though it still exists elsewhere. Local extinctions are contrasted with global extinct ...

from some islands. Privately owned

Guana Island Guana Island is an island of the British Virgin Islands (BVI) in the Caribbean. One of the few remaining privately owned islands in its part of the world, Guana has seven white powder-sand beaches and of tropical forest, mountains, hills, ...

, one of the

British Virgin Islands ) , anthem = "God Save the King" , song_type = Territorial song , song = "Oh, Beautiful Virgin Islands" , image_map = File:British Virgin Islands on the globe (Americas centered).svg , map_caption = , mapsize = 290px , image_map2 = Brit ...

, appears to be the only site where is considered common. It inhabits forested mountain areas that have dense understory and much leaf litter.

Behavior

Feeding

Bridled quail-doves usually forage singly or in pairs and also sometimes in larger groups. They probe and toss leaf litter on the forest floor searching for seeds, fallen fruits, and invertebrates such as snails and insects. These birds have also been documented to eat

Sphaerodactylus macrolepis ''Sphaerodactylus macrolepis'', also known as the big-scaled dwarf gecko or the big-scaled least gecko, is a lizard of the ''Sphaerodactylus'' genus. It was first documented in 1859 in the US Virgin Islands, specifically, St. Croix. This diurnal s ...

, a lizard native to the Puerto Rico area.

Breeding

The bridled quail-dove builds a platform nest of twigs in vines, shrubs, or trees. The clutch size is one or two.

Vocalization

The bridled quail-dove's call is "a relatively deep, resonating coo" described as "''haoooo''", "''hoo-hoooooo''", or "''who-whooo''". It also makes a "guttural croaking" call whose purpose is not known.

Status

The

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

has assessed the bridled quail-dove as being of Least Concern. However, there are few historical data with which to compare modern records so it is not clear whether the population is in decline or stable. Habitat loss, hunting, natural disasters such as hurricanes and volcanic eruptions, and predation by introduced mammals are all known to have influenced the populations on one or more islands. In Puerto Rico, it is “the highest territorial priority species in need of conservation measures."

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q788827

bridled quail-dove The bridled quail-dove (''Geotrygon mystacea'') is a species of bird in the family Columbidae. It is found from Saint Lucia in the Lesser Antilles north and west to Puerto Rico.Boal, C. W. (2020). Bridled Quail-Dove (''Geotrygon mystacea''), ve ...

Birds of Puerto Rico Birds of the British Virgin Islands Birds of the United States Virgin Islands Birds of Montserrat Birds of the Lesser Antilles Endemic birds of the Caribbean

Taxonomy articles created by Polbot