Eared Dove: how to recognise it
A bird of North America and South America. Learn the marks that make it easy to identify, then practise with real photographs in Lore.
Practise with real photosAll species guides
Photo © Diego Caballero · CC BY-NC · iNaturalist · all photo credits
- Scientific name
- Zenaida auriculata
- Family
- Pigeons and Doves
- Size
- About 24 cm
- Habitat
- Open country, farmland, towns and scrub
- Found in
- North America and South America
The key marks
Greyish-brown dove with a pinkish breast, dark marks on the side of the head and a short, rounded tail with white tips. Mourning Dove has a longer, pointed tail and just one black spot on the cheek.
Voice
Soft, mournful cooing, a few 'hoo' notes in a row.
Good to know
It is among the most numerous doves of South America and feeds in big flocks on seeds picked from the ground and from farmland.
Do not confuse with
Compare it with the Mourning Dove. Look at the marks above one by one rather than the overall colour, and practise telling the two apart with real photos.
Where and when
You can expect to find it in open country, farmland, towns and scrub. It is especially common in Ecuador, Colombia, Argentina and Chile. Distribution changes with the seasons and from year to year, so check a recent local observation source before you go looking.