Zenaida dove

Description

The dove Zenaide (Zenaida aurita Temminck,1809) is a bird of the family of Columbidae native to the West Indies and the Yucatan Peninsula.The generic name and the common name,attributed to the species by the famous French ornithologist Carlo Luciano Bonaparte,commemorate his wife Zénaïde Bonaparte,daughter of Giuseppe Bonaparte and Julie Clary.Widespread throughout the Caribbean,the Zenaide turtledove is a rather squat tortora with a low and plaintive appeal.Measure 28-30.5 cm in length;the weight is around 149-180 g in males and 120-145 g in females.Its plumage is predominantly brownish-reddish or greyish-brown above and bruno-pinkish lighter below,with a more virulent head on the cinnamon and back of the greyish neck.On the sides of the neck there is an iridescent purple spot,and on the sides of the face there are two dark blue-violet stripes,which appear black when viewed from a distance.On the wings there are some black spots,and remiges external secondary have the white ends.The tail is rather rounded,with a black band at the end and white points on the outer remiges.The beak is black and legs and feet are red.The female has less bright and lighter colors than the male,with a gray back and iridescent spots on the smaller neck.The young specimens resemble the adult female,but are devoid of iridescent spots on the neck and have the ends of the feathers of the back and of the chamois-colored wings.Three subspecies of Zenaide taupe are generally recognized: Zenaida aurita aurita,Zenaida aurita salvadorii and Zenaida aurita zenaida.The subspecies Zenaida aurita zenaida is darker and has the ends of the gray-bluish tail feathers instead of white,while Zenaida aurita salvadoriiit has a greyish or brownish-olive color on the back,with a slightly slightly reddish tinge and ends of the white-greyish tail feathers.Zenaide's turtledove emits a gentle song with plaintive tones,described as coo-oo,coo,coo,coo or hoo'ooo-oo oo-ooo.This song recalls that of the American turtledove ( Zenaida macroura ),its close relative,but is usually slightly shorter.Moreover,the Zenaide tortara can be distinguished from the latter by having a shorter and less pointed tail,proportionally bigger legs and feet and white spots on the wings.