Brown doves are members of the

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

''Phapitreron'' in the

pigeon Columbidae is a bird family consisting of doves and pigeons. It is the only family in the order Columbiformes. These are stout-bodied birds with small heads, relatively short necks and slender bills that in some species feature fleshy ceres. ...

family. Their common name refers to their overall brown coloration. They are

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 ...

to the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

. All brown doves are tree-dwellers, but the different species occupy different types of wooded habitats; some are more restricted to

old-growth forest An old-growth forest or primary forest is a forest that has developed over a long period of time without disturbance. Due to this, old-growth forests exhibit unique ecological features. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Natio ...

while other make use of

secondary forest A secondary forest (or second-growth forest) is a forest or woodland area which has regenerated through largely natural processes after human-caused Disturbance (ecology), disturbances, such as Logging, timber harvest or agriculture clearing, or ...

and other woodland. Their main diet is fruit. They tend to be solitary in their habits and can be elusive. Some species in this genus have conspicuous black and white stripes on their faces and iridescent neck feathers. Males and females look alike.

Taxonomy

The genus ''Phapitreron'' was introduced in 1854 by the French naturalist

Charles Lucien Bonaparte Charles Lucien Jules Laurent Bonaparte, 2nd Prince of Canino and Musignano (24 May 1803 – 29 July 1857) was a French naturalist and ornithology, ornithologist, and a nephew of Napoleon. Lucien and his wife had twelve children, including Cardinal ...

for the

white-eared brown dove The white-eared brown dove (''Phapitreron leucotis'') is a species of bird in the family Columbidae. It is endemic to the Philippines where it is found across most of the country except Palawan, Sulu and Batanes. It habitat is in lowland and mont ...

(''Phapitreron leucotis''). The genus name ''Phapitreron'' combines the genus name ''Phaps'' introduced by the English naturalist

Prideaux John Selby Prideaux John Selby FRSE Linnean Society, FLS (23 July 1788 – 27 March 1867) was an English ornithologist, botanist and natural history artist. Life Selby was born in Bondgate Street in Alnwick in Northumberland, the eldest son of George ...

in 1835 for the bronze-wing pigeons with the

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

''trērōn'' meaning "pigeon". The genus contains four species: *

White-eared brown dove The white-eared brown dove (''Phapitreron leucotis'') is a species of bird in the family Columbidae. It is endemic to the Philippines where it is found across most of the country except Palawan, Sulu and Batanes. It habitat is in lowland and mont ...

(''Phapitreron leucotis'') * Amethyst brown dove (''Phapitreron amethystinus'') *

Tawitawi brown dove The Tawitawi brown dove (''Phapitreron cinereiceps''), also dark-eared brown dove, is a threatened species of bird in the family Columbidae noted for its orange-peach breast. It is endemic to forests in the Sulu Archipelago (islands of Tawi-Tawi ...

(''Phapitreron cinereiceps'') * Mindanao brown dove (''Phapitreron brunneiceps'') – split from the Tawitawi brown dove Some ornithologists have split two of the above species: * Buff-eared brown-dove (''Phapitreron nigrorum'') – split from the white-eared brown dove * Short-billed brown-dove (''Phapitreron brevirostris'') – split from the white-eared brown dove * Cebu brown-dove (''Phapitreron frontalis'') – split from the amethyst brown dove; listed as an

EDGE species Edge or EDGE may refer to: Technology Computing * Edge computing, a network load-balancing system * Edge device, an entry point to a computer network * Adobe Edge, a graphical development application * Microsoft Edge, a web browser developed by ...

by the

Zoological Society of London The Zoological Society of London (ZSL) is a charity and organization devoted to the worldwide animal conservation, conservation of animals and their habitat conservation, habitats. It was founded in 1826. Since 1828, it has maintained London Zo ...

and

Critically Endangered An IUCN Red List critically endangered (CR or sometimes CE) species is one that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild. As of December 2023, of t ...

by 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 ...

. *

Grey-breasted brown-dove The grey-breasted brown dove (''Phapitreron amethystinus maculipectus'') is a subspecies of amethyst brown dove in the family Columbidae. It is endemic to the Philippines being found in Negros and Panay. Its natural habitats are or tropical mois ...

(''Phapitreron maculipectus'') – split from the amethyst brown dove

Taxonomy

References

Further reading