Ruddy Ground Dove: how to recognise it
A bird of Europe, 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 © eduardovieira17 · CC BY-NC · iNaturalist · all photo credits
- Scientific name
- Columbina talpacoti
- Family
- Pigeons and Doves
- Size
- About 17 cm
- Habitat
- Farmland, gardens, scrub and forest edge
- Found in
- Europe, North America and South America
The key marks
Tiny dove. Male is ruddy rufous-brown with a grey head and black spots on the wing; female is greyer. Croaking Ground Dove is a dull grey-brown with no ruddy body, and shows rufous only in the wings in flight.
Voice
A soft, repeated cooing note.
Good to know
Often walks on the ground in pairs or small groups, eating seeds, and nests low in shrubs.
Do not confuse with
Compare it with the Croaking Ground 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 farmland, gardens, scrub and forest edge. It is especially common in Panama, Colombia and Brazil. Distribution changes with the seasons and from year to year, so check a recent local observation source before you go looking.