White-winged dove by Snowmanradio, CC BY 2.0

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Genus Name: Zenaida

Status: Extant

First Described: 1838

Described By: Bonaparte 

Classification: Dinosauria, Theropoda, Neotheropoda, Averostra, Tetanurae, Orionides, Avetheropoda, Coelurosauria, Tyrannoraptora, Maniraptoriformes, Maniraptora, Pennaraptora, Paraves, Eumaniraptora, Averaptora, Avialae, Euavialae, Avebrevicauda, Pygostylia, Ornithothoraces, Euornithes, Ornithuromorpha, Ornithurae, Neornithes, Neognathae, Neoaves, Columbaves, Columbimorphae, Columbiformes, Columbidae, Columbinae, Zenaidini

Referred Species: Z. asiatica (White-winged dove), Z. meloda (West Peruvian dove), Z. aurita (Zenaida dove), Z. galapagoensis (Galápagos dove), Z. auriculata (Eared dove), Z. macroura (Mourning dove), Z. graysoni (Socorro dove)

Happy Birthday Week! This year’s theme is my favorite genera of Modern dinosaurs (aka, birds)! The first one is the Zenaida doves, a small genus of doves native to America that includes my favorite Columbid, the Mourning Dove! This genus has seven species that are all fairly similar - small, tan with black spots. The reason I love the Mourning Dove so much is its distinctive call - it truly is beautiful, and one lived outside my window as a kid and would greet me when I woke up! 

West Peruvian Dove, by DickDaniels, CC BY-SA 3.0

Zenaida is, for the most part, a genus that is non-endangered, apart from one species that is extinct in the wild. They are also closely related to the Passenger Pigeon, which is now extinct. Though they all live in the Americas, the range of each differs, with some overlap between certain species. They probably diverged from other doves sometime between 2 and 3 million years ago, originating mainly in North America and then spreading to South America following the formation of the land bridge between the two continents. Fossils of this genus are known from recent rocks from Florida, California, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, the Carribbean, and Ecuador. 

Mourning Dove by Trisha M. Shears, in the Public Domain

The white-winged dove, Z. asiatica, lives in the southwestern region of the United States, down through Mexico and the Caribbean, and has expanded through Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, and Mississippi. It also, sadly, has been introduced to Florida. They are round doves, about 29 centimeters long, with brownish grey upper plumage and gray lower plumage. They also have patches of blue, featherless skin around each eye as adults. They have a cooing call, like other doves and pigeons, that goes hoo, hoo, hoo-hoo. They also call out hoo-a to warn for predators. 

White-Winged Doves by Gabriel Gianello, CC BY-SA 3.0

The West Peruvian Dove, Z. meloda, lives primarily from Ecuador the Chile, mostly in subtropical and tropical environments, both dry and wet. They have a bright blue patch of skin around each eye, and have brown eyes, with both sexes fairly similar in coloration. They are probably not threatened, and they have a caw of hoo-hoo-WOO... hoo-hoo-WOO-hoo. The Zenaida Dove, Z. aurita, is also not endangered - they live in the Caribbean and Yucatán Peninsula, with some even reaching the Florida Keys. They are about 28 to 30 centimeters long, and are similar in appearance to Mourning Doves, but are smaller with shorter and rounder tails, and darker coloration. It will roost in trees, shrubs, and rock crevices and grassy vegetation. They also forage on the ground, and have similar calls to Mourning Doves, but have a faster pace. 

Zenaida Dove, by Charlesjsharp, CC BY-SA 4.0

The Galápagos Dove, Z. galapagoensis, is endemic to the Galápagos Island and is very common there. They are between 18 and 23 centimeters long and has streaked white and black wings. They are actually very reluctant to fly, and mostly eat seeds and fruit from the ground, living in rocky lowlands. They also pollinate cacti, due to an absence of bees. They build their nests on the ground, carrying two eggs in each nest. 

Galápagos Dove, by The Rambling Man, CC BY-SA 3.0

The Eared Dove, Z. auriculata, is a dove from Colombia, Argentina, and Chile. It is partially migratory as well, moving due to food supply changes. It is 24 cm long, with blue-black coloration on its ear feathers, giving the bird it’s name. They have a soft call, oo-ah-oo, and they’re common in savannah and other sorts of open habitats. It has fast and high flight, with mating flights that have steep aerial climbs. They nest in trees, laying two eggs in each nest. 

Eared Dove, by Alex Proimos, CC BY 2.0

The Socorro Dove, Z. graysoni, is a species that is extinct in the wild, but still present in captivity, with reintroduction programs being prepared at various zoos. It is closely related to mourning doves and can hybridize with other members of the species. It is about 26.5 to 34 cm long, with stronger but similar colors to the mourning dove. It has a disyllabic coo, followed by three single calls, and then another disyllabic calls, all taking less than 3 second to go together. It lives only in mated pairs or solitarily, unlike other doves of this genus, and the young are chased away from the nest immediately upon being able to care for themselves. They lived in low seasonably humid forests, and upon the introduction of cats, these habitats became more dangerous for them, as they lived in the lowland, eating fruit from the local fruit trees that also have become less common. Feral cats, human hunting, and competition with other animals reduced their population until they went extinct in the wild. Reintroduction efforts have begun, reducing sheep populations, controlling cats, and breeding programs are in place. 

The Socorro Dove, by Ltshears, CC BY-SA 3.0

The Mourning Dove, Z. macroura, is arguably the most famous species, and the reason why this is one of my favorite genera of birds. It is abundant, widespread, and not endangered, with year-round range in most of the US and Mexico, with winter only ranges in the southern portion of Central America, and the summer only range in southern Canada. It is most closely related to the eared dove and the Socorro dove, but these are thought to be separate species from one another. It has five subspecies, which have overlapping ranges, and all appear fairly similar to one another. It is a slender dove, about 31 cm long, with broad wings and a round head, with a long and tapered tale. They’re usually light, gray-brown and pinkish below, with black spotting on the wings. The males also have purple-pink patches on the sides of the neck. 

Mourning Dove, CC BY-SA 2.5

They live in a wide variety of habitats including urban areas, farms, prairies, grasslands, and woods. It lives well alongside humans and migrate over land, during the day and at low altitudes, but not all Mourning Doves mate. There are even some Canadian doves that stay in the winter, feeding off of Bird Feeders. They have a very distinctive call, a sort of Coo-OOO-cooo, coo, coo, which you can hear here: https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=File%3AMourning_Dove.ogg. This call is why they’re so fond to me. They also can have a nest call that’s shorter to attract mates, a soft ork for greeting when re-meeting mates, and a short alarm call. 

Mourning Dove pair, by Andrew Atzert, CC BY 2.0

The male initiates courtship with a noisy flight, then a circular glide to land, before approaching the female with a puffed out breast and a bobbing head. The pair will preen each other’s feathers, and then they’ll find potential nest sites, with the female dove building the nest. They construct nests out of twigs, conifer needles, and glass blades, so they’re never very strong nests. They’re usually made in trees, and they usually lay only two eggs. The young hatch after two weeks and are altricial, meaning that they are helpless and require the aid of their parents. They fledge - so become more mature, but not quite able to fly - in about 11 to 15 days, and stay nearby the nest for two weeks after to be fed by the father. The dove is monogamous, forming strong pair bonds, which reconvene in the same area after the breeding season. 

By Snowmanradio, CC BY-SA 2.0

They feed almost exclusively seeds, though occasionally they eat snails or insects. They swallow grit to aid with digestion and forage on the ground, and they often eat at bird feeders. They enjoy pine nuts, sweetgum seeds, and pokeberry, amaranth, canary grass, corn, sesame, and wheat seeds. THey have many different diseases such as tapeworms, nematodes, mice, and lice, including Trichomonas gallinae, with can cause growths in the mouth and esophagus. They’re usually hunted by falcons, and hawks, with corvids, grackles, cats, and snakes preying on their eggs. They drink by suction, and often sunbathe and rainbathe, stretching their wings while lying on the ground. They also enjoy dustbathing and waterbathing in pools and bird baths. They roost in trees when not breeding, and they rest their heads between the shoulders close to the body while sleeping. There are about 475 million mourning doves in the world today.

Sources:

Johnson, K. P., D. H. Clayton. 2000. A molecular phylogeny of the dove genus Zenaida: Mitochondrial and Nuclear DNA Sequences. The Condor 102: 864 - 870. 

https://paleobiodb.org/navigator/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zenaida_doves

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Peruvian_dove

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White-winged_dove

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zenaida_dove

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eared_dove

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gal%C3%A1pagos_dove

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socorro_dove

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mourning_dove

White-winged Dove Zenaida asiatica

Mourning Dove Zenaida macroura

White-winged Dove Zenaida asiatica