Plumbeous pigeon
Kingdom
Phylum
Class
Family
Genus
SPECIES
Patagioenas plumbea

The plumbeous pigeon (Patagioenas plumbea ) is a species of bird in the family Columbidae. It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela.

Appearance

The plumbeous pigeon is 34 cm (13 in) long and weighs 172 to 231 g (6.1 to 8.1 oz). Males have a dark gray head, neck, and underparts that sometimes have a pinkish or purplish tinge. The shoulders, back, rump, wings, and tail are dark grayish brown to drab olive. The hindneck sometimes has bronzy spots. The eye is red and surrounded by bare purplish red skin. The female's purplish wash is less intense and the neck spots more intense than the male's. Juveniles are duller than the adults, with very little purplish wash, and some feathers have rusty edges. The subspecies differ mostly in the amount and intensity of the pink or purple on the upperparts. Visually the plumbeous pigeon can be confused with the ruddy pigeon (P. subvinacea ) where their ranges overlap, but their vocalizations are very different.

Distribution

Geography

The subspecies of plumbeous pigeon are found thus:

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  • P. p. chapmani – west slope of the Andes from Colombia south to Ecuador's El Oro Province
  • P. p. bogotensis – east slope of the Andes from Venezuela and Colombia south to Bolivia's Cochabamba Department
  • P. p. wallacei – extreme eastern Venezuela, the Guianas, and eastern Amazonian Brazil as far west as the Rio Negro and Rio Tapajós
  • P. p. pallescens – eastern Ecuador, eastern Peru, and western Brazil along the southern tributaries of the Amazon from the Rio Purus to Pará state
  • P. p. baeri – Brazil, Goiás and northwestern Minas Gerais states
  • P. p. plumbea – eastern Paraguay and southeastern Brazil

The plumbeous pigeon inhabits tropical and subtropical rainforest and cloudforest, both primary and secondary. North of the Rio Orinoco it is found between 1,200 and 1,900 m (3,900 and 6,200 ft) of elevation but south of there only between 200 and 300 m (660 and 980 ft). In southeastern Brazil it makes seasonal altitudinal migrations.

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Plumbeous pigeon habitat map

Biome

Plumbeous pigeon habitat map
Plumbeous pigeon
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Diet and Nutrition

The plumbeous pigeon forages in the forest canopy for fruit and seeds. In Brazil it feeds heavily on mistletoe drupes at some times of the year.

Mating Habits

The plumbeous pigeon's breeding phenology has not been studied.

Population

Population number

The IUCN has assessed the plumbeous pigeon as being of Least Concern. The species is widespread and fairly common throughout.

References

1. Plumbeous pigeon Wikipedia article - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plumbeous_pigeon
2. Plumbeous pigeon on The IUCN Red List site - https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/22690321/130170379
3. Xeno-canto bird call - https://xeno-canto.org/707541

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