Common Ground-Dove
Columbina passerina
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
- KingdomAnimalia (Animals)
- PhylumChordata (Chordates)
- ClassAves (Birds)
- OrderColumbiformes (Pigeons and Doves)
- FamilyColumbidae (Pigeons and Doves)
- GenusColumbina (Small Ground Doves)
- SpeciesColumbina passerina (Common Ground-Dove)
About the Common Ground-Dove
The common ground dove (Columbina passerina) is a small bird that inhabits the southern United States, parts of Central America, the Caribbean and northern South America. It is considered to be the smallest dove that inhabits the United States. As its name suggests, the bird spends the majority of its time on the ground, but can still fly.
The common ground dove was formally described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758, in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae. He placed it with all the other pigeons in the genus Columba and coined the binomial name Columba passerina. The specific name passerina is from the Latin passerinus meaning "sparrow-like". The species is now placed with other New World ground-doves in the genus Columbina that was introduced in 1825, by the German naturalist Johann Baptist von Spix. There are nine species in this genus including the Inca dove (Columbina inca) and the scaled dove (Columbina squammata).
There are 17 recognised subspecies: C. p. passerina (Linnaeus, 1758) – the nominate subspecies, southeastern United States C. p. pallescens (Baird, 1860) – southwest United States. Males are paler and females have more white on their... Wikipedia →
Recent sightings of Common Ground-Dove in Puracé National Natural Park
LIVEiNaturalistClosest Relatives at Puracé National Natural Park
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Leptotila verreauxi
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White-throated Quail-Dove
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Global Distribution
Warmer areas are where this animal is recorded most often.