The blue ground dove (''Claravis pretiosa'') is a small

New World The term ''New World'' is often used to mean the majority of Earth's Western Hemisphere, specifically the Americas."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: Oxford University Press, p. ...

tropical

dove 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 a resident breeder from southeastern

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

to northwestern

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = National seal , national_motto = "Firm and Happy f ...

and northern

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

, and on

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands of Trinidad and Tobago. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is often referred to as the southernmos ...

in the Caribbean.

Habitat and breeding

The blue ground dove is relatively common in open woodland, forest edges, clearings and roadsides, especially in more humid areas. It is found from sea level to about 1200 m altitude. It builds a flimsy dish

nest A nest is a structure built for certain animals to hold eggs or young. Although nests are most closely associated with birds, members of all classes of vertebrates and some invertebrates construct nests. They may be composed of organic materi ...

of twigs 1–11 m high in a tree and lays two white eggs.

Description

Blue ground doves are small pigeons, 20 cm long with a weight of 65-72 g. Adult males have blue-grey upperparts and paler grey underparts, becoming grey-white on the face. The flight feathers and outer tail feathers are blackish, and the wings are boldly spotted black (these spots often forming distinct bands). The iris is red or yellow, the bare eyering is green, and the legs are flesh-pink. The female has a grey-brown head neck and breast, becoming pale blue-grey on the underwings and belly. The back is ruddy brown, contrasting with the chestnut rump and tail. The spots in the wings are chestnut-brown. Young birds resemble the female, but have ruddy scaling on the back. In most of its range, the male is unlikely to be confused with other species, but can locally be confused with the members of the genus '' Paraclaravis''. The female also resembles the females of the members of the genus ''Paraclaravis'', but at most localities it is more likely to be confused with the female

ruddy ground dove The ruddy ground dove (''Columbina talpacoti'') is a small New World tropical dove. It is a resident breeder from Mexico south to Brazil, Peru and Paraguay, and northern Argentina, and on Trinidad and Tobago. Individual birds can sometimes be see ...

, which is smaller and has blackish (not chestnut-brown) markings on the wings. In most regions where the blue ground dove occurs, a blue-grey and a brown bird flying through the trees together is bound to be this species.

Diet and behaviour

Blue ground doves occur singly, in pairs or sometimes in small groups. They feed mainly on the ground on seeds and small

insect Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body ( head, thorax and abdomen), three ...

s, and take grit. The male's song, given from the treetops, is a loud ''boop''.

Taxonomy

The genus ''Claravis'' was introduced in 1899 by the American ornithologist

Harry C. Oberholser Harry Church Oberholser (June 25, 1870 – December 25, 1963) was an American ornithologist. Biography Harry Oberholser was born to Jacob and Lavera S. Oberholser on June 25, 1870, in Brooklyn, New York. He attended Columbia University, but did ...

with the blue ground dove as the

type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specime ...

. The genus name combines the Latin ''clarus'' meaning "distinct" or "clear" with ''avis'' meaning "bird". ''Claravis'' formerly included the maroon-chested ground dove and purple-winged ground dove in addition to the blue ground dove, but the former two species were reassigned to the genus ''Paraclaravis'' due to the finding that the traditional ''Claravis'' was non- monophyletic. A study carried out using sequences of four mitochondrial genes and one nuclear gene, that included representatives from 15 of the 17 species in the group, recovered blue ground dove to be the clade with high support.

References

* * * Stiles and Skutch, ''A guide to the birds of Costa Rica''

External links

Blue Ground-Dove in Ceará, Brazil: Photos, vocalization
fro
www.birds-caatinga.com
{{Taxonbar, from1=Q766613, from2=Q133579 blue ground dove Birds of Central America Birds of South America Birds of the Caribbean Birds of Trinidad and Tobago blue ground dove blue ground dove