Scaled Dove - BirdForum Opus

Photo © by Xyko Paludo
Sacramento, MG, Brazil, July 2018

Columbina squammata

Identification

Photo © by Luiz
Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil, 7 November 2020

18–22 cm (7-8¾ in)

Blackish feather edges
Long pointed tail
Rufous patches on the wings
White outer webs of distal wing-coverts

Similar Species

Less pink than Inca Dove.

Distribution

Photo © by Luiz
Resende, Brazil, 25 December 2020

Caribbean and South America
Caribbean: found only in Trinidad
South America: Colombia, Venezuela, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina.

Taxonomy

Black stripe underneath tail
Photo © by NJ Larsen
El Camarones, Guajira, Colombia, 28 August 2023

Subspecies

There are 2 subspecies^[1]:

C. s. ridgwayi:

Coastal north-eastern Colombia to Venezuela, Margarita Island and Trinidad

C. s. squammata:

Central and eastern Brazil to Bolivia, Paraguay and north-eastern Argentina

Habitat

Open areas, forest borders, cerrado, caatinga and orchards.

Behaviour

Diet

There is little information available. They are known to eat seeds and snails. They usually forage singly or in pairs, and sometimes join small flocks.

Breeding

They generally nest in small trees.

Vocalisation

The noise made by their wings in flight sounds like a rattlesnake.
Call: often described as sounding like "Fire extinguished".
Song: a loud and repetitive pow-co-pow.

References

Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2018. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2018. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
Avibase
Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved Aug 2018)
BF Member observations

List of references

Recommended Citation

BirdForum Opus contributors. (2025) Scaled Dove. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 2 May 2025 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Scaled_Dove

External Links

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