The grey-fronted dove, (Leptotila rufaxilla ) is a large New World tropical dove. It is found on Trinidad and in every mainland South American country except Chile.
The grey-fronted dove is about 28 cm (11 in) long and weighs 115 to 183 g (4.1 to 6.5 oz). Adult males of the nominate subspecies have a grayish to bluish forehead ("front"), a bluish gray crown, and a grayish purple nape and hindneck with some iridescence. The yellow or brown eye is surrounded by bare red skin that is itself surrounded by pinkish white feathers. The throat is also pinkish white and the rest of the face buff to pinkish buff. The upperparts are olive-brown with faint bronze or puplish on the mantle. The central tail feathers are also olive-brown and the outer ones blackish with obvious white tips. The breast and sides of the neck are greyish pink shading to white on the belly. The bill is black and the legs and feet red. The adult nominate female is browner than the male, with more of an olive cast to the flanks and green-tinged upperparts. The juvenile is similar to the female but its breast has rust and drab brown bars and the upperparts' feathers show rusty edges. The other subspecies differ somewhat in size and their colors are redder, pinker, or grayer than the nominate.
The grey-fronted dove is a resident breeder in South America on Trinidad and east of the Andes from Colombia, Venezuela and the Guyanas south to Paraguay, Uruguay, and northeastern Argentina. The subspecies are found thus:
The grey-fronted dove inhabits humid forest, generally in the interior but also at the edges and in clearings. In Colombia it has been recorded in várzea, terra firme, and gallery forests. In elevation it is found below 550 m (1,800 ft) in Venezuela and locally as high as 2,200 m (7,200 ft) in southeastern Brazil.
The grey-fronted dove forages on the forest floor, eating seeds and probably insects. It has also been recorded eating bananas and rice at feeding stations.
The grey-fronted dove breeds almost year round in Trinidad; elsewhere its breeding season is shorter. It builds a platform nest of twigs in a bush, tree, or palm and lays one or two white eggs.
