White-crowned Pigeon

Patagioenas leucocephalaOrder: COLUMBIFORMES Family: Pigeons and Doves (Columbidae)

Codes: Common Name: WCPI Scientific Name: PATLEU ITIS Taxonomic No.: 676903

White-crowned Pigeon Breeding Male Small Portrait

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Overview

White-crowned Pigeon: Large dove, slate-gray overall with conspicuous white crown. Scaled nape is iridescent green when seen in good light. Iris is white.Yellow bill has red base. Legs and feet are red. Eats berries, seeds and insects. Swift direct flight with strong rapid wing beats.

Range and Habitat

White-crowned Pigeon: Distributed throughout most of the West Indies, the Caribbean coast of the Yucatan and the Florida Keys. Frequents semi-deciduous woods and mangrove swamps.

Topo Map: Pigeon-like Body

Listen to Call

Voice Text

"wof, wof, woo, cowoo", "coo-cura-cooo", "coo-croo"

Interesting Facts

John James Audubon did a famous painting of the White-crowned Pigeon on Indian Key in April 1832.

A strict frugivore, they can fly great distances over water. They island hop in the Bahamas and Florida Keys in search of food.

They have a particularly long nesting season in years when food is abundant, nesting up to four times in a single year.

A group of pigeons has many collective nouns, including a "band", "dropping", "loft", "passel" and "school" of pigeons.

Bird Term Glossary

Author

Gary Owen Dick

Artist

Irina Rud-Volga

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Bird Call Credits: The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Martyn Stewart, http://www.naturesound.org, Redmond, Washington USA. The reuse or copying of bird calls in this database is strictly forbidden.

White-crowned Pigeon

● Song: "wof, wof, woo, cowoo", "coo-cura-cooo", "coo-croo"

● Foraging & Feeding: White-crowned Pigeon: Eats berries, seeds, and some insects; forages mostly in trees and shrubs.

● Breeding & nesting: White-crowned Pigeon: One or two white eggs are laid in a nest made of twigs, grass, and roots, lined with grasses and fine materials, and built low in a tree. Incubation ranges from 18 to 20 days and is carried out by both parents.

● Similar species: White-crowned Pigeon: Rock Pigeon is paler and lacks white crown.

Flight Pattern

Swift direct flight with strong rapid wing beats.

White-crowned Pigeon Breeding Male Body Illustration

● Range & Habitat: White-crowned Pigeon: Distributed throughout most of the West Indies, the Caribbean coast of the Yucatan and the Florida Keys. Frequents semi-deciduous woods and mangrove swamps.

^BreedingMonogamous, Colonial

^PopulationFairly common, Stable

^MigrationMigratory

^Weight9.2 Ounces

Pigeon-like Body

Crown

The crown is the top part of the birds head.

Nape

Also called the hindneck or collar, it is the back of the neck where the head joins the body.

4 and 6 letter alpha codes

The four letter common name alpha code is is derived from the first two letters of the common first name and the first two letters of common last name. The six letter species name alpha code is derived from the first three letters of the scientific name (genus) and the first three letters of the scientific name (species). See (1) below for the rules used to create the codes..

Four-letter (for English common names) and six-letter (for scientific names) species alpha codes were developed by Pyle and DeSante (2003, North American Bird-Bander 28:64-79) to reflect A.O.U. taxonomy and nomenclature (A.O.U. 1998) as modified by Supplements 42 (Auk 117:847-858, 2000) and 43 (Auk 119:897-906, 2002). The list has been updated by Pyle and DeSante to reflect changes reported by the A.O.U from 2003 through 2006.

Field Guide to Birds of North America