Inca Dove

Inca Dove
Inca Dove
Conservation status
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Columbiformes
Family: Columbidae
Genus: Columbina
Species: C. inca
Binomial name
Columbina inca
(Lesson, 1847)
Synonyms
  • Scardafella inca

The Inca Dove (Columbina inca) is a small New World dove; it might belong to the genus. It ranges from the southwestern United States and Mexico through Central America to Costa Rica; the Inca Dove only lives on the Pacific side of Central America. Despite being named after the Inca Empire, this species does not occur in any of the lands that constituted that region. Inca Doves are common to abundant within their range and they are expanding their range north and south.

Inca Doves reach a length of 16.5–23 cm (6.5–9.1 in) and weigh 30–58 g (1.1–2.0 oz).[1] They are slender, with a gray-brown body covered in feathers that resemble a scaled pattern. The tail is long and square, edged with white feathers that may flare out in flight. In flight, the underwing is reddish, like other ground doves, and on takeoff, the wings produce a distinctive, quiet rattling noise.

This is a terrestrial species which occurs in flocks in open areas including scrub and cultivation. It will feed in urban areas, eating grass seeds and taking advantage of the ready availability of water from agricultural and suburban irrigation. The song, a forceful cooing rendered variously as "cowl-coo" or "POO-pup", may be given from a tree, wire, or other open, high perch such as a television aerial.

A pair of Inca Doves nesting

During winter, they roost in communal huddles in a pyramid formation that helps them conserve heat. These pyramids can contain up to 12 birds.[2]

The flimsy twig nest is built 1–8 m high in a tree, often a thorny species, and two white eggs are the normal clutch.

Notes

  1. ^ [1] (2011).
  2. ^ Paul B. Robertson; Ann F. Schnapf (1987) Pyramiding Behavior in the Inca Dove: Adaptive Aspects of Day-Night Differences. The Condor 89(1):185-187.

References

External links


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Look at other dictionaries:

  • Inca dove — Inca In ca, n. (a) An emperor or monarch of Peru before, or at the time of, the Spanish conquest; any member of this royal dynasty, reputed to have been descendants of the sun. (b) pl. The people governed by the Incas, now represented by the… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • inca dove — noun Usage: usually capitalized I : a small dove (Scardafella inca) found from Arizona to Central America * * * Inca dove, a small, grayish dove with feathers edged with black, found from Texas and Arizona south to Central America …   Useful english dictionary

  • inca dove — peruvinė skardafela statusas T sritis zoologija | vardynas atitikmenys: lot. Scardafella inca angl. inca dove vok. Aztekentäubchen, n pranc. colombe inca, f ryšiai: platesnis terminas – skardafelos …   Paukščių pavadinimų žodynas

  • Inca — In ca, n. (a) An emperor or monarch of Peru before, or at the time of, the Spanish conquest; any member of this royal dynasty, reputed to have been descendants of the sun. (b) pl. The people governed by the Incas, now represented by the Quichua… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Scardafella inca — Inca In ca, n. (a) An emperor or monarch of Peru before, or at the time of, the Spanish conquest; any member of this royal dynasty, reputed to have been descendants of the sun. (b) pl. The people governed by the Incas, now represented by the… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Common Ground Dove — near Salton Sea, California, USA Conservation status …   Wikipedia

  • Scardafella inca — peruvinė skardafela statusas T sritis zoologija | vardynas atitikmenys: lot. Scardafella inca angl. inca dove vok. Aztekentäubchen, n pranc. colombe inca, f ryšiai: platesnis terminas – skardafelos …   Paukščių pavadinimų žodynas

  • colombe inca — peruvinė skardafela statusas T sritis zoologija | vardynas atitikmenys: lot. Scardafella inca angl. inca dove vok. Aztekentäubchen, n pranc. colombe inca, f ryšiai: platesnis terminas – skardafelos …   Paukščių pavadinimų žodynas

  • scaled dove — noun or scale dove Etymology: scaled (I) : any of several doves (genus Scardafella) of tropical America that are pale gray below and usually light grayish brown above with dark margined feathers compare inca dove …   Useful english dictionary

  • Columbina — Colombes du genre Columbina …   Wikipédia en Français

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