- Leptotila verreauxi
Identification
28 cm. Grey crown and nape, pale grey or white forehead, white throat, red eye-ring (blue in most of the Amazon and northern South America), grey-brown upperparts and wings, white underparts shading to pink, dull grey or buff on the chest, rufous underwing coverts, tail broadly tipped with white, black bill, red legs, yellow iris.
Distribution
Texas (extreme south only) in the USA through Mexico and Central and South America to western Peru and central Argentina. It also breeds on Trinidad and Tobago and the Netherlands Antilles.
Taxonomy
Numerous subspecies exist; some of the more widespread are the nominate taxon, L. v. verreauxi, from Nicaragua to Venezuela, L. v. angelica from Texas and coastal Mexico, L. v. decolor west of the Andes from Colombia to northern Peru, L. v. brasiliensis in most of the Amazon north of the Amazon River and L. v. decipiens in a large part of central South America.
Habitat
Scrub, woodland and forest.
Behaviour
It builds a large stick nest in a tree; 2 white eggs are laid and incubated for about 14 days; after a further 15 days the young fledge.
The diet includes seeds obtained by foraging on the ground, and insects, including butterflies and moths.
