Scaled pigeon
{{short description|Species of bird}}
{{Speciesbox
| name = Scaled pigeon
| status = LC
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| image = Patagioenas speciosa -Zooparque Itatiba, Sao Paulo State, Brazil -adult-8a.jpg
| image_caption = At Zooparque Itatiba, Sao Paulo State, Brazil
| genus = Patagioenas
| species = speciosa
| authority = (Gmelin, JF, 1789)
| synonyms = Columba speciosa Gmelin, 1789
| range_map = Patagioenas speciosa map.svg
}}
The scaled pigeon (Patagioenas speciosa) is a large New World tropical dove. It is a resident breeder from southern Mexico south to western Ecuador, southern Brazil, northern Argentina, and Trinidad.
The scaled pigeon is fairly common in semi-open forest. It builds a stick platform nest in a tree and lays two white eggs.
Its flight is high, fast and direct, with the regular beats and an occasional sharp flick of the wings which are characteristic of pigeons in general. It is usually very wary, since it is frequently hunted.
Taxonomy
The scaled pigeon was formally described in 1789 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition of Carl Linnaeus's Systema Naturae. He placed it with all the other doves and pigeons in the genus Columba and coined the binomial name Columba speciosa.{{ cite book | last=Gmelin | first=Johann Friedrich | author-link=Johann Friedrich Gmelin| year=1789 | title=Systema naturae per regna tria naturae : secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis | edition=13th | volume=1, Part 1 | language=Latin | location=Lipsiae [Leipzig] | publisher=Georg. Emanuel. Beer | page=783 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/2656278 }} Gmelin based his description on "Le Ramiret" and the "Pigeon ramier de Cayenne" that had been described and illustrated in 1871 by the French polymath Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon.{{ cite book | last=Buffon | first=Georges-Louis Leclerc de | author-link=Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon | year=1771 | title=Histoire Naturelle des Oiseaux | volume=2 | location=Paris | publisher=De l'Imprimerie Royale | page=278 | chapter=Le Ramiret | language=French | chapter-url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k1069710d/f607.item }}{{ cite book | last1=Buffon | first1=Georges-Louis Leclerc de | author1-link=Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon | last2=Martinet | first2=François-Nicolas | author2-link=François-Nicolas Martinet | last3=Daubenton | first3=Edme-Louis | author3-link=Edme-Louis Daubenton | last4=Daubenton | first4=Louis-Jean-Marie | author4-link=Louis-Jean-Marie Daubenton | year=1765–1783 | chapter=Pigeon ramier de Cayenne | title=Planches Enluminées D'Histoire Naturelle | volume=3 | location=Paris | publisher=De L'Imprimerie Royale | at=Plate 213| chapter-url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/35207031 }} The scaled pigeon was moved to the resurrected genus Patagioenas based on a molecular phylogenetic study published in 2001.{{Cite journal | last1=Johnson | first1=K.P. | last2=de Kort | first2=S. | last3=Dinwoodey | first3=K. | last4=Mateman | first4=A.C. | last5=ten Cate | first5=C. | last6=Lessells | first6=C.M. | last7=Clayton | first7=D.H. | last8=Sheldon | first8=F. | date=2001 | title=A molecular phylogeny of the dove genera Streptopelia and Columba | journal=The Auk | volume=118 | issue=4 | pages=874–887 | doi=10.1093/auk/118.4.874 | doi-access=free | hdl=20.500.11755/a92515bb-c1c6-4c0e-ae9a-849936c41ca2 | hdl-access=free }}{{Cite journal | last1=Banks | first1=R.C. | last2=Cicero | first2=C. | last3=Dunn | first3=J.L. | last4=Kratter | first4=A.W. | last5=Rasmussen | first5=P.C. | last6=Remsen | first6=J.V.J. | last7=Rising | first7=J.D. | last8=Stotz | first8=D.F. | date=2003 | title=Forty-Fourth Supplement to the American Ornithologists' Union Check-List of North American Birds | journal=The Auk | volume=120 | issue=3 | pages=923–932 | doi=10.1093/auk/120.3.923 | doi-access=free }}{{cite web| editor1-last=Gill | editor1-first=Frank | editor1-link=Frank Gill (ornithologist) | editor2-last=Donsker | editor2-first=David | editor3-last=Rasmussen | editor3-first=Pamela | editor3-link=Pamela Rasmussen | date= July 2021 | title=Pigeons | work=IOC World Bird List Version 11.2 | url=https://www.worldbirdnames.org/bow/pigeons/ | publisher=International Ornithologists' Union | accessdate=9 October 2021 }} The genus had been introduced by the German naturalist Ludwig Reichenbach in 1853.{{ cite book | last=Reichenbach | first=Ludwig | author-link=Ludwig Reichenbach | year=1853 | title=Handbuch der speciellen Ornithologie | publisher=Friedrich Hofmeister | language=German | place=Leipzig | page=xxv | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/47618655 }} The genus name combines the Ancient Greek patageō meaning "to clatter" and oinas meaning "pigeon". The specific epithet speciosa is from Latin speciosus meaning "beautiful".{{cite book | last=Jobling | first=James A. | year=2010| title=The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names | publisher=Christopher Helm | location=London | isbn=978-1-4081-2501-4 | pages=[https://archive.org/stream/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling#page/n294/mode/1up 294], [https://archive.org/stream/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling#page/n361/mode/1up 361]}} The species in monotypic: no subspecies are recognised.
Description
The scaled pigeon is {{cvt|36|cm}} long and weighs normally about {{cvt|290|g}}. Adult males have mainly purple brown plumage, with a paler scaly appearance to the neck and underparts. The lower underparts are whitish edged with purple. The eyering, legs and bill are red, the latter having a white tip. The female is dull dark brown rather than purplish, and is slightly smaller than the male.
Scaled pigeons feed mainly on forest fruits and seeds. Birds have also been seen to feed on fresh green leaves and sometimes crops.{{cite web|website=The Online Guide to the Animals of Trinidad and Tobago|title=Patagioenas speciosa (Scaled Pigeon)|publisher=UWI |url=https://sta.uwi.edu/fst/lifesciences/sites/default/files/lifesciences/documents/ogatt/Patagioenas_speciosa%20-%20Scaled%20Pigeon.pdf}} The call is a series of deep cooing cro ku-ks that differs markedly from that of its relatives, such as the white-crowned pigeon.Mahler, Bettina & Tubaro, Pablo L. (2001): Relationship between song characters and morphology in New World pigeons. Biol. J. Linn. Soc. 74(4): 533–539. {{doi|10.1006/bijl.2001.0596}} (HTML abstract)
This is a solitary bird which does not form flocks.
The scaled pigeon has been recorded as successfully nesting on a fern (Pteridium aquilinum at ground level, and in the canopy of the tree fern Cyathea cyatheoides). The pearl kite visits nests of this species as a natural predator.Aguilar, Héctor F. (1996)- Algunas Notas Sobre la Paloma Leona Columba [speciosa] speciosa Gmelin 1789 (Aves: Columbidae) en Mérida, Venezuela. Zoocriaderos 1(2):25-34
References
{{Reflist}}
- ffrench, Richard; O'Neill, John Patton & Eckelberry, Don R. (1991): A guide to the birds of Trinidad and Tobago (2nd edition). Comstock Publishing, Ithaca, N.Y.. {{ISBN|0-8014-9792-2}}
- Hilty, Steven L. (2003): Birds of Venezuela. Christopher Helm, London. {{ISBN|0-7136-6418-5}}
- Stiles, F. Gary & Skutch, Alexander Frank (1989): A guide to the birds of Costa Rica. Comistock, Ithaca. {{ISBN|0-8014-9600-4}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q1273870}}
Category:Birds of Central America
Category:Birds of the Guiana Shield
Category:Birds of Trinidad and Tobago
Category:Birds of the Amazon rainforest