The picazuro pigeon (''Patagioenas picazuro'') is a

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. ...

native to

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 ...

Description

It is a large pigeon with a wingspan of up to 22 inches and can weigh as much as a pound. It is a brown bird with white dashes on the back of its neck and darker brown wing patterns. It is similar in appearance to the

spotted dove The spotted dove or eastern spotted dove (''Spilopelia chinensis'') is a small and somewhat long-tailed pigeon that is a common resident breeding bird across its native range on the Indian subcontinent and in East and Southeast Asia. The species ...

Distribution

The picazuro pigeon is found in

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

Bolivia Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

Paraguay Paraguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay, is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the Argentina–Paraguay border, south and southwest, Brazil to the Brazil–Paraguay border, east and northeast, and Boli ...

and

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

. It has an estimated global extent of occurrence of 5,800,000 km² and although an accurate population count has not taken place, it is believed that the species is common and the population is thought to be increasing. Picazuro pigeons survive in a variety of habitats; from woodland and forest to agricultural land.

Diet

This species feeds mainly on the ground and like most other

pigeons 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. ...

eats seeds and grain.

Reproduction

Picazuro pigeons nest in every month of the year. A fragile

nest A nest is a structure built for certain animals to hold Egg (biology), eggs or young. Although nests are most closely associated with birds, members of all classes of vertebrates and some invertebrates construct nests. They may be composed of ...

is built from sticks and one

egg An egg is an organic vessel grown by an animal to carry a possibly fertilized egg cell (a zygote) and to incubate from it an embryo within the egg until the embryo has become an animal fetus that can survive on its own, at which point the ...

is laid. Both parents incubate the egg. Once the egg has hatched, the chick is fed on

crop milk Crop milk is a secretion from the lining of the crop of parent birds in some species that is regurgitated to young birds. It is found among all pigeons and doves where it is also referred to as pigeon milk. Crop milk is also secreted from the c ...

and then regurgitated seeds.

References

* InfoNatura: Birds, mammals, and amphibians of Latin America eb application 2004. Version 4.1 . Arlington, Virginia (USA): NatureServe. Available

(Accessed: April 7, 2007 ).

External links

Picazuro pigeon in Ceará, Brazil: Photo, vocalization
fro
www.birds-caatinga.com
* {{Taxonbar, from=Q1269659 Patagioenas, picazuro pigeon Birds of Argentina Birds of Brazil Birds of Paraguay Birds of Uruguay

picazuro pigeon The picazuro pigeon (''Patagioenas picazuro'') is a pigeon native to South America. Description It is a large pigeon with a wingspan of up to 22 inches and can weigh as much as a pound. It is a brown bird with white dashes on the back of its nec ...