The crested quail-dove (''Geotrygon versicolor'') 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

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

Taxonomy and systematics

At one time the crested quail-dove was the sole member of genus ''Geotrygon''. Most of what are now the other species in the genus were previously in genus ''Oreopeleia'', which was merged into ''Geotrygon''. The crested 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 ...

.Baptista, L. F., P. W. Trail, H. M. Horblit, and P. F. D. Boesman (2020). Crested Quail-Dove (''Geotrygon versicolor''), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.crqdov1.01 retrieved September 27, 2021

Description

Male crested quail-doves are long; females are . They weigh about . Males have a black forehead and a drab brown crown. The nape is gray and has elongated feathers producing the eponymous crest. The back and sides of the neck are metallic bronze or bronze-green. The face is mostly gray with a broad reddish buff malar stripe. The gray continues to the belly; the belly and flanks are chestnut. The upper back and wing

covert Secrecy is the practice of hiding information from certain individuals or groups who do not have the "need to know", perhaps while sharing it with other individuals. That which is kept hidden is known as the secret. Secrecy is often controvers ...

s are iridescent reddish purple, the mid-back bluish purple, and the lower back and tail greenish black with purple iridescence. The eye is red, surrounded by bare gray skin. Many females look the same as the male, but sometimes they are paler overall and browner on the neck and belly. Juveniles are duller than the adults and most feathers show rust-colored edges.

Distribution and habitat

The crested quail-dove is endemic to Jamaica. It is concentrated in the

Blue Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between violet and cyan on the spectrum of visible light. The eye perceives blue when obs ...

and

John Crow Mountains The John Crow Mountains are a range of mountains in Jamaica. They extend parallel with the northeast coast of the island, bounded to the west by the banks of the Rio Grande, and joining with the eastern end of the Blue Mountains in the southeast. ...

, the Mount Diablo area, and the

Cockpit Country Cockpit Country is an area in Trelawny and Saint Elizabeth, Saint James, Saint Ann, Manchester and the northern tip of Clarendon parishes in Jamaica. The land is marked by steep-sided hollows, as much as deep in places, which are separated ...

. It inhabits mid-level and

montane forest Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is a crucial f ...

in those areas, at elevations as low as in Cockpit Country and as high as elsewhere. It shuns the lowland, dry forest, and cultivated woodlands.

Behavior

Feeding

The crested quail-dove forages in leaf litter on the forest floor for seeds, fallen fruit, and probably invertebrates.

Breeding

The crested quail-dove's breeding season spans from March to June. It places its nest of twigs near the ground in vegetation or sometimes on the ground. The clutch size is two.

Vocalization

The crested quail-dove's advertising call is "a short phrase of usually two cooing notes repeated at intervals...'whuuOh..whuuw'."

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 crested quail-dove as Near Threatened. Its population is thought to be declining as its habitat is replaced by agriculture and human development. "Since this is a forest species, its survival will depend on the preservation of forests."

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q676938

crested quail-dove The crested quail-dove (''Geotrygon versicolor'') is a species of bird in the family Columbidae. It is endemic to Jamaica. Taxonomy and systematics At one time the crested quail-dove was the sole member of genus ''Geotrygon''. Most of what ar ...

Birds of Jamaica Endemic birds of Jamaica

Taxonomy articles created by Polbot