Nombre en español: Tórtola Ojirroja
Nombre en inglés: Gray-chested Dove
Nombre científico: Leptotila cassinii
Familia: Columbidae
La paloma montaraz pechigrís (Leptotila cassinii) es una especie de ave columbiforme perteneciente a la familia Columbidae.
Es una especie poco conocida, bastante común en Centroamérica y poco frecuente en Colombia. Su nombre Leptotila proviene de las raíces griegas leptos = fino, esbelto y ptilon = pluma. El epíteto cassinii se estableció en honor al ornitólogo estadounidense John Cassin.
Tamaño y Forma
Mide de 22.5 a 28 cm y pesa de 132 a 179 g. Tiene ojos amarillos, piel desnuda roja en órbitas y bridas, pico negro y patas rojas. Presenta frente gris rosáceo, coronilla y nuca café oscuro, lados de la cabeza y cuello gris pálido, partes superiores café oliva con verde o púrpura iridiscente en el manto y las coberteras alares internas, primarias y rectrices más oscuras que el resto de partes superiores. Su garganta es blanca, tiene pecho gris vináceo, vientre vináceo, coberteras infracaudales blancas y cola grisácea con pequeños ápices blancos en rectrices externas. La hembra es más oscura.
Especies Similares
Podría ser confundida con la Caminera Rabiblanca (Leptotila verreauxi) la cual tiene la punta blanca de la cola más conspicua, pecho café vináceo, no gris vináceo y piel orbital y bridas azules. La Caminera Cabeziazul (Leptotila plumbeiceps) tiene cabeza y partes inferiores mucho más pálidas.
Diferencias Regionales
Se reconocen tres subespecies: L. c. cerviniventris, L. c. rufinucha y L. c. cassinii. Solo la subespecie nominal se encuentra en Colombia.
Distribución y hábitat
Se encuentra en Belice, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, México, Nicaragua, y Panamá. Su hábitat natural son los bosques húmedos de las tierras bajas subtropicales o tropicales y bosques antiguos degradados.
En el territorio nacional se encuentra por debajo de 900 m de altura sobre el nivel del mar en la costa Pacífica desde límites con Panamá hacia el sur hasta la Serranía del Baudó. También al este por la base húmeda del norte de los Andes hasta el valle medio del rio Magdalena.
Subespecies
- Leptotila cassinii cassinii (Lawrence, 1867)
- Leptotila cassinii cerviniventris (P. L. Sclater & Salvin, 1868)
- Leptotila cassinii rufinucha (P. L. Sclater & Salvin, 1873).
Grey-chested dove
The grey-chested dove (Leptotila cassinii) is a species of bird in the family Columbidae. It is found in Belize, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, and Panama.
Taxonomy and systematics
The grey-chested dove is closely related to the Tolima dove (Leptotila conoveri) and ochre-bellied dove (L. ochraceiventris), and might form a superspecies with them. It has three subspecies, the nominate L. c. cassinii, L. c. cerviniventris, and L. c. rufinucha.
Description
The grey-chested dove is 22.5 to 28 cm (8.9 to 11.0 in) long and weighs 132 to 179 g (4.7 to 6.3 oz). The nominate subspecies has a pinkish gray forehead and face, dark brown crown and nape, and an iridescent grayish purple hindneck. Its upperparts are olive-brown with an iridescent green or purple mantle. The tail is darker than the back and the outer feathers have white tips. Its throat is white, the breast reddish gray, and the belly reddish. The eye is shades of yellow surrounded by bare gray skin that is reddish at its front and back. The legs and feet are red. Males and females are essentially alike but that the female is darker overall. L. c. rufinucha is paler than the nominate, with a purplish breast and a rusty buff crown and nape. L. c. cerviniventris is similar to rufinucha but the breast is a stronger purplish pink.
Distribution and habitat
The nominate subspecies of grey-chested dove is found from Panama’s Canal Zone into northern Colombia. L. c. cerviniventris is found from Chiapas in southeastern Mexico south through Belize, Honduras, Nicaragua, and northwestern Costa Rica into western Panama. L. c. rufinucha is found in southwestern Costa Rica and northwestern Panama. It inhabits secondary forest from sea level to at most 1,400 m (4,600 ft). On the Caribbean side of Costa Rica it is only found as high as 750 m (2,460 ft).
Behavior
Feeding
The grey-chested dove forages on the ground alone or in pairs; it does not flock. Though its diet is poorly known, it has been documented eating seeds and small insects.
Breeding
The grey-chested dove’s breeding season varies across its range. In Costa Rica it has two seasons, February to May and July to September. In Panama it breeds between February and September and in Colombia apparently from January to April. It builds a shallow platform nest of twigs and straw and places it from 1 to 5 m (3.3 to 16.4 ft) above ground on a tree branch or in a thicket or vine tangle. The clutch size is two eggs.
Vocalization
The grey-chested dove’s song is «a single mournful monotonous note ‘woOOOooo’ which fades rapidly in and slowly fades out.»
Status
The IUCN has assessed the grey-chested dove as being of Least Concern. Though its biology and ecology are poorly known, the species is considered fairly common in most of its range.
Fuentes: Wikipedia/eBird/xeno-canto/Wikiaves
