The Azuero dove or brown-backed dove (''Leptotila battyi'') is a species of

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...

in the family

Columbidae Columbidae is a bird Family (biology), family consisting of doves and pigeons. It is the only family in the Order (biology), order Columbiformes. These are stout-bodied birds with small heads, relatively short necks and slender bills that in ...

. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

Panama Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...

Taxonomy and systematics

The Azuero dove, the grey-fronted dove (''Leptotila rufaxilla'') and pallid dove (''L. pallida'') of

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

, the grey-headed dove (''L. plumbeiceps'') of South and

Central America Central America is a subregion of North America. Its political boundaries are defined as bordering Mexico to the north, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest. Central America is usually ...

, and the Grenada dove (''L. wellsi'') of

Grenada Grenada is an island country of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean Sea. The southernmost of the Windward Islands, Grenada is directly south of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and about north of Trinidad and Tobago, Trinidad and the So ...

were at one time thought to be a single species.Remsen, J. V., Jr., J. I. Areta, E. Bonaccorso, S. Claramunt, A. Jaramillo, D. F. Lane, J. F. Pacheco, M. B. Robbins, F. G. Stiles, and K. J. Zimmer. Version 24 August 2021. A classification of the bird species of South America. American Ornithological Society. https://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCBaseline.htm retrieved August 24, 2021Baptista, L. F., P. W. Trail, H. M. Horblit, E. de Juana, P. F. D. Boesman, and E. F. J. Garcia (2020). Gray-headed Dove (''Leptotila plumbeiceps''), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (S. M. Billerman, B. K. Keeney, P. G. Rodewald, and T. S. Schulenberg, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.gyhdov1.01 retrieved September 21, 2021 The

International Ornithological Committee The International Ornithologists' Union (IOU) is an international organization for the promotion of ornithology. It links basic and applied research and nurtures education and outreach activities. Specifically, the IOU organizes and funds global co ...

(IOC) and the ''

Handbook of the Birds of the World The ''Handbook of the Birds of the World'' (HBW) is a multi-volume series produced by the Spanish publishing house Lynx Edicions in partnership with BirdLife International. It is the first handbook to cover every known living species of bird. ...

'' (HBW) recognize two subspecies, the nominate ''L. b. battyi'' and ''L. l. malae''. The

American Ornithological Society The American Ornithological Society (AOS) is an ornithological organization based in the United States. The society was formed in October 2016 by the merger of the American Ornithologists' Union (AOU) and the Cooper Ornithological Society. Its ...

(AOS) and the

Clements taxonomy ''The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World'' is a book by Jim Clements which presents a list of the bird species of the world. The most recent printed version is the sixth edition (2007), but has been updated yearly, the last version in 202 ...

include those subspecies in the grey-headed dove.HBW and BirdLife International (2020) ''Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International digital checklist of the birds of the world'' Version 5. Available at: http://datazone.birdlife.org/userfiles/file/Species/Taxonomy/HBW-BirdLife_Checklist_v5_Dec20.zip xls zipped 1 MBretrieved May 27, 2021Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, S. M. Billerman, T. A. Fredericks, J. A. Gerbracht, D. Lepage, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2021. The eBird/Clements checklist of Birds of the World: v2021. Downloaded from https://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/ Retrieved August 25, 2021

Description

The Azuero dove is long. The adult male of the nominate subspecies has a pale gray forehead, a slate gray crown and nape, and a brownish gray hindneck. The rest of the face and the throat are reddish gray. The breast is shades of pink and the belly and vent white. The upperparts are chestnut brown. The central tail feathers are also chestnut brown and the outer ones brownish black with brownish white tips. The eye is yellow or greenish yellow surrounded by bare red skin. The bill is black and the legs and feet are dull red or pinkish red. The adult female is very similar but duller on the back and breast. The juvenile's forehead, crown, neck, and upper breast are brown with cinnamon markings. Adults of ''L. l. malae'' are mostly a darker brown than the nominate and are paler gray on the head and breast.

Distribution and habitat

The nominate subspecies of Azuero dove is found only on

Coiba Coiba () is the largest island in Central America, with an area of , off the Pacific coast of the Panamanian province of Veraguas. It is part of the Montijo District of that province. History Coiba separated from continental Panama between 1 ...

Island off the south-central Panamanian coast. ''L. l. malae'' is found on the Pacific slope of west central Panama and Cébaco Island off its shore. It inhabits tall forest and wooded swamps. On the mainland it is mostly found in hilly areas including Cerro Hoya but has a wider elevational range on Coiba.

Behavior

Feeding

The Azuero dove forages on the ground, usually in groups of two or three, but little else is known about its feeding habits or diet.

Breeding

Essentially nothing is known about the Azuero dove's breeding

phenology Phenology is the study of periodic events in biological life cycles and how these are influenced by seasonal and interannual variations in climate, as well as habitat factors (such as elevation). Examples include the date of emergence of leav ...

Vocalization

The Azuero dove's advertising call is "a repeated single cooing note".

Status

The

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the status ...

has assessed the Azuero dove as Vulnerable. It has a very small and fragmented range and its mainland habitat is shrinking, though on Coiba the habitat is reverting to forest from pasture and agriculture.

References

External links

BirdLife Species Factsheet.
{{Taxonbar, from=Q2984155 Azuero dove Endemic birds of Panama Azuero dove Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Isthmian–Pacific moist forests