The Tolima dove (''Leptotila conoveri'') 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 ...

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

Taxonomy and systematics

The Tolima dove is

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unisp ...

. It is closely related to the grey-chested dove (''Leptotila cassinii'') and ochre-bellied dove (''Leptotila ochraceiventris''), and might form a

superspecies In biology, a species complex is a group of closely related organisms that are so similar in appearance and other features that the boundaries between them are often unclear. The taxa in the complex may be able to hybridize readily with each oth ...

with them.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, 2021

Description

The Tolima dove is long. It has a blue-gray to dark gray crown and a reddish hindneck with a violet gloss. Its upper mantle is reddish gray overlain with iridescent violet and the rest of the upperparts are dark gray with purple iridescence. The wings are browner and the tail is slaty with white tips on the outer feathers. The throat is white and the breast reddish pink with a sharp division between it and the buff lower breast and belly.Baptista, L. F., P. W. Trail, H. M. Horblit, P. F. D. Boesman, E. de Juana, E. F. J. Garcia, and C. J. Sharpe (2020). Tolima Dove (''Leptotila conoveri''), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.toldov1.01 retrieved September 23, 2021

Distribution and habitat

The Tolima dove was believed to be limited to the eastern slope of Colombia's central Andes in Tolima and

Huila Department Huila () is one of the departments of Colombia. It is located in the southwest of the country, and its capital is Neiva. Demography and Ethnography Huila department had a population of 1,122,622 inhabitants in 2020, of which 679,667 (60.54%) ...

s. In 2014 it was discovered in

Cundinamarca Department Department of Cundinamarca (, ) is one of the departments of Colombia. Its area covers (not including the Capital District) and it has a population of 2,919,060 as of 2018. It was created on August 5, 1886, under the constitutional terms pre ...

in the eastern Andes. It mostly inhabits the interior and edges of humid subtropical forest, in an elevation range of . However, in the canyon of the Combeima River it is found in disturbed areas including coffee plantations and near human habitation.

Behavior

Feeding

The Tolima dove has been reported as feeding mainly on ''Bocconia frutescens'' seeds but nothing else is known about its diet or foraging habits.

Breeding

Observations of Tolima doves in breeding condition, eggs, and nestlings indicate a nesting season that extends at least from March to September. It builds a shallow bowl nest of heavy twigs in bushes or small trees, usually no more than above the ground. The clutch size is two eggs.

Vocalization

The Tolima dove's song is "a single slightly over-slurred note “wooOOOooo”, with a clear emphasis in the middle."

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 ...

originally assessed the Tolima dove as Threatened, then from 1994 as Endangered, and in 2020 as Near Threatened. It has a restricted range and its population appears to be fragmented. Much of its original habitat has been destroyed but the species appears to adapt to

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 coffee plantations.

References

External links

BirdLife Species Factsheet.
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1268595 Tolima dove Birds of the Colombian Andes Endemic birds of Colombia Tolima dove Tolima dove Tolima dove Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Columbidae