The Common Ground Dove is a small Dove that is the smallest in their family. In fact, they are one of the smallest Doves in all of North America. The scientific name of this bird refers to the small size of this bird.
About Common Ground Doves
These birds have the widest range for any species that come under their specific genus (Columbina). Most Common Ground Doves are permanent residents, but some of them might migrate short distances seasonally. Migration is the most common during winters. Most individual Common Ground Doves do not like to go too far away from their natal
sites, but some vagrants travel massive distances. It seems that some Common Ground Doves just wander around freely. Although Common Ground Doves mostly live in arid, open forests, and shrub habitats, they are not uncommon around human habitations. Irrigated agricultural fields and residential developments with a low density of humans are also ideal habitats for these Doves.
Its characteristic “woot” call is common throughout the rural areas of the South. Common Ground Doves are actually very different from other species from their genus. Unlike other birds in their genus, Common Ground Doves form permanent pair bonds and are otherwise not as socially active. They rarely form flocks, because their social ability is limited. There are many Common Ground Doves that are permanent residents of their territory, but aggressive encounters between territorial birds are still not common. This is peculiar for birds that are permanent residents of any specific territory.
Despite its many differences, in other aspects, Common Ground Doves are like other columbids. Common Ground Doves construct fragile nests, and they lay 2 eggs per clutch. Common Ground Doves breed throughout the year, but breeding activity reaches its peak when there is an abundance of resources. Seeds of weeds and grasses are their primary form of nutrition. Nestlings are fed a mixture of crop milk and seeds.
Common Ground Dove hatchlings develop very rapidly, and within 11 days they are able to fly. As adults are extremely quick at re-nesting, raising several broods is easy for these birds.
Although Common Ground Doves are capable enough to raise several broods, their populations have been on the decline. This is solely due to the loss of suitable habitat. This might be due to habitat degradation, or due to human development in their habitat.
● Common Ground Doves Photos, Color Pattern, Song
● Common Ground Doves Size, Eating behavior, Habitat
● Common Ground Doves Range and Migration, Nesting
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Common Ground Dove Color Pattern
Common Ground Doves have a bright-orange-red bill with a dark tip. Females are darker gray overall, and males are slightly brighter. Their chestnut-colored primaries and the lining of their wings are visible when they are flying. Through the geographical range of the species, adults can have grayish brown to dark brown upperparts. These include the face, forehead, breast, and sides of the neck.
Underparts are generally pinkish-brown to pinkish-gray. The color of the hindneck, nape, and crown can range from bluish-grey to grayish-pink. Tertials, secondaries, and wing-coverts are either pinkish-brown or gray, with some dark glossy spots. Inner secondaries and scapulars are the same color but without spotting.
Common Ground Doves have dark red, pinkish, or orange irides. Legs and feet as also generally pinkish. Male legs might be brighter during the breeding season. Apart from the difference in color according to sexes, male Common Ground Doves also have a slyer appearance.
Description and Identification
Common Ground Doves are usually confused with two other ground Doves. These include Inca Doves and Ruddy Ground-Doves. Inca Doves are larger, have a longer tail with a white edge at the end.
Ruddy Ground Doves are very similar in size to Common Ground Doves. Male Ruddy Ground Doves can easily be distinguished based on their bright rufous plumage, but the plumage of females is very similar to Common Ground Doves. These two species can still be differentiated according to their physical appearance by observing the lack of scaling Ruddy Ground-doves has on their breast, throat, and head. Ruddy Ground-Doves also have black tails and darker bills.
Another species of bird that bears several similarities to Common Ground Doves are Plain-Breasted Ground-Doves. The main differentiating factors are that Plain-Breasted Ground-Doves are slightly smaller, and they also lack scaling on the chest and the head. Plain-Breasted Ground-Doves also have a uniformly colored bill.
Common Ground Doves have a very distinctive and monotonous call. They spend most of their time repeating the same call. Hatchlings produce a soft cheep when they want food. The only other call made by hatchlings is a louder peep, which perhaps serves the purpose of an alarm call.
Common Ground Dove Song
For all the species under the family Columbidae, songs and calls are synonymous terms for describing vocalizations. Males advertise their territories with a “wroo” or “wot woot woot” call. This call might contain a series of up to 1-13 notes. This call is generally repeated 4-5 times each minute. Sometimes, it might go on endlessly. Although the primary purpose of the woot call seems to be an advertisement for courtship, it also serves a few other functions. Other contexts might include nest exchanges and, while abandoning the nest due to the threat of a predator. Some solitary males also produce this call, perhaps for entertainment.
A call for courtship is the guttural “broww” squawk call. This call is made during a specific courtship display. This call is also made by members of both sexes during agonistic intraspecific encounters. A short “wut-wut” call is when Common Ground Doves threaten another ground Dove. All these calls have a relatively high pitch. There is minor geographical variation in the songs of Common Ground Doves. Some Common Ground Doves use a “per-hoo” call as a courtship call instead of the typical “woot-woot” call.
Common Ground Dove Size
Common Ground Doves are one of the smallest Doves in North America. They are also the smallest Doves in the world according to mass. These birds are 5.9-7.1 inches long, and they have an average wingspan of 11 inches. Its total weight is approximately 1.41 ounces.
Common Ground Dove Behavior
Common Ground Doves are ground foragers who spend most of their time foraging and roosting. They often walk around their habitats while searching for seeds. These birds roost at any time of the day and night. Head-knocking is common during walking, and their tails are always slightly elevated.
Common Ground Doves also have very focused flights. They never fly too high, instead, most flights are very precise and specific to areas in the vicinity. When alarmed, Common Ground Doves fly away immediately, but this isn’t often the case. Like many columbids, Common Ground Doves are mostly tolerant of humans.
Male Common Ground Doves which are competing for mates or food make cooing calls. While making these calls, they raise both their wings to reveal the chestnut patches on their wings. When a male is interested in a specific female, he keeps repeating it till he gets her attention. He often follows her around till he manages to do so. Pair bonds are established when a female Common Ground Dove accepts regurgitated food from the male. These pairs stay together for a long time. A guttural call made by the male usually precedes courting attempts.
The fasted speed recorded in Common Ground Doves is 32mph. These birds are very particular about preening its body. Sometimes, they bathe in the rain. Although not many columbids use dust bathing as a process of cleaning themselves, Common Ground Doves display this behavior.
Roosting sites frequented by Common Ground Doves in the day are shrubs, trees, or the ground. During the night they either roost in shrubs or trees. Most Common Ground Doves that reside in Florida prefer orange groves. Their roosting flocks have approximately 6-15 individuals.
Most Common Ground Doves are active during the day unless it is too cold for them. Common behaviors throughout the day include loafing, sunning, and foraging. In agonistic encounters, most Common Ground Doves successfully chase off the intruders by performing one wing-raising display, but they might continue this display another two
times. Rarely, Common Ground Doves indulge in physical contact. Wing-flicking displays made by Common Ground Doves in the territory of some other bird, might serve the purpose of displaying submission, not aggression.
If a predator approaches hatchlings, they try to protect themselves by snapping their bill and making distress calls. Some known predators of Common Ground Doves are opossums, raccoons, domestic dogs, cars, snakes, black races, eastern coachwhips, Crows, and Jays.
Male Common Ground Doves assume the responsibility of maintaining their territory throughout the breeding season. Some Common Ground Doves maintain the same breeding territories throughout the year. Males are generally more aggressive during the breeding season. Most Common Ground Doves do not wander far away from their partners mostly the distance between them doesn’t exceed 10-13 feet.
Common Ground Dove Diet
Common Ground Doves mostly consume grasses seeds, grains, insects, snail shells, weeds, and small berries. They are also a common sight at birdfeeders. Due to their small size, they cannot consume large prey.
Common Ground Doves prefer dry, sandy areas for foraging, and they mostly forage on the ground. Preferred feeding areas for Common Ground Doves are citrus groves, coastal dunes, grassy mesquite-live oak-cactus savanna, and desert scrubs. If Common Ground Doves are residing near human settlements, they also freely feed at roadsides, lawns, and agricultural fields.
Common Ground Dove Habitat
Common Ground Doves are able to survive in several different habitats. They are especially comfortable living around humans. Most habitats inhabited by them are dry which seems to be one of their habitat requirements.
Natural habitats inhabited by them include hammocks, lakeshores, coastal dunes, mesquite flats, riparian woodlands, open woods, and forest edges. Common Ground Doves that live around the coast, like to live in valleys that have sufficient cover of vegetation. Common Ground Doves that breed in the vicinity of humans choose habitats such as residential neighborhoods and irrigated fields.
Range and Migration
Common Ground Doves have a massive range. In fact, they have the widest range in their genus Columbina. They are common throughout the southernmost portion of America. Their range also includes Central America and the northern portion of South America. They are short-distance migrants which travel to warmer regions during winter.
Common Gound Dove Lifecycle
Common Ground Doves maintain pair bonds for several years. They don’t have any specific food requirements in their breeding areas, because they primarily feed their hatchlings crop milk. As a result of this, Common Ground Doves can raise multiple broods. Many Common Ground Doves successfully raise up to 4 birds per year. Each clutch laid by them includes between 1-3 days. These eggs need to be incubated for 12-14 days. Eggs are 0.8-0.9 inches long, and they have a width between 0.6-0.7 inches.
Nesting
Common Ground Doves don’t spend much time constructing nests, but they divide the labor between each other. Nests that are located on the ground are small scrapes lined with rootlets, palm fibers, pine needs, and grasses. Nests that are built above the ground are delicate structures made of pine needles and twigs.
Anatomy of a Common Ground Dove
Common Ground Doves are the smallest birds in the Columbidae family. They have medium-sized bills and small tarsi.
Final Thoughts
Most of us must have already come across Common Ground Doves at some point in our lives. They are extremely common throughout their range, and so are their calls. Although it might not be fascinating for a birdwatcher to spot this species, sighting them must surely bring a sense of familiarity and comfort with it.
Ornithology
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Bird Watching Binoculars for IdentifyingCommon Ground Doves
The most common types of bird watching binoculars for viewing Common Ground Doves are 8×21 binoculars and 10×42 binoculars. Bird Watching Academy & Camp sells really nice 8×21 binoculars and 10×42 binoculars. You can view and purchase them here.
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Common Ground Dove Stickers
Stickers are a great way for you to display your love for bird watching and the Common Ground Dove. We sell a monthly subscription sticker pack. The sticker packs have 12 bird stickers. These sticker packs will help your kids learn new birds every month.
Bird Feeders ForCommon Ground Doves
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Bird HousesForCommon Ground Doves
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