Key West quail-dove

Key West quail-dove
Cuba
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Columbiformes
Family:	Columbidae
Genus:	Geotrygon
Species:	G. chrysia
Binomial name
Geotrygon chrysia Bonaparte, 1855

The Key West quail-dove (Geotrygon chrysia) is a member of the bird family Columbidae, which includes doves and pigeons.

The Key West quail-dove breeds in the Bahamas and, except for Jamaica, throughout the Greater Antilles. It formerly bred in the Florida Keys and southernmost mainland Florida. It was discovered on Key West and that is how the bird received its name. Although no longer breeding in Florida, it occasionally is still recorded in the Keys and southernmost mainland Florida as a vagrant. It lays two buff colored eggs on a flimsy platform built on a shrub. Some nests are built on the ground.

The Key West quail-dove is approximately 27–31 cm in length. The bird is distinguished by having a dark rust colored back and similarly colored wings. It has some amethyst or bronze green iridescence on its crown, nape and in the back of its neck. The mantle, back, rump and inner wing coverts show some purplish red iridescence. It also has a bold white facial stripe. Its call is similar that of the white-tipped dove.

This bird is found in tropical and subtropical dry forests, shrublands, and lowland moist forests. These birds forage on the ground, mainly eating seeds, berries and fallen fruit. It is fond of poisonwood fruit. It will also take snails in its diet.

References

• Field Guide to the Birds of North America. Washington, D.C.: National Geographic Society. 2002. ISBN 978-0-7922-6877-2. 
• Josep del Hoyo (ed.). Handbook of the Birds of the World. Volume 4: Sandgrouse to Cuckoos. Lynx Edicions. ISBN 84-87334-22-9.