Animalia Life

Zenaida macroura
SUBFAMILY
Columbinae
TAXONOMY
Columba macroura Linnaeus, 1758, West Indies. Five subspecies.
OTHER COMMON NAMES
English: Carolina dove; French: Tourterelle triste; German: Carolinataube; Spanish: Zenaida Huilota.
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS
12 in (30 cm), 4.2 oz (120 g). Olive-gray above, brownish gray beneath. Display plumage of the neck is iridescent pink and violet.
DISTRIBUTION
Common in North America.
HABITAT
Savanna and hot and dry areas, also in agricultural land.
BEHAVIOR
The male stands behind the female with his head up and inflated crop and utters the coos. The iridescent areas of the neck are exposed by inflating the crop, but no bowing is shown. At the nest site, the male calls with the tail spread just to show the white feather tips.
FEEDING ECOLOGY AND DIET
Chiefly seeds.
REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY
Birds have four or five breeding attempts, but pairs rarely try more than twice.
CONSERVATION STATUS
Not threatened.
SIGNIFICANCE TO HUMANS
Extensively pursued as game bird in the United States and Mexico.

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