White-crowned Pigeon

Columba leucocephala

Paloma Coroniblanca,
Paloma Cabeciblanca

Audio (M. Oberle)

IDENTIFICATION: A large, slate gray pigeon with a white crown. Immatures have a dull, gray crown. Length: 33-35 cm.; weight: 232-240 g.

VOICE: A three-note call with the last note more prolonged, described as "sary-coat-blue." Audio (M. Oberle).

HABITAT: Coastal forests, mangroves, lower hills.

HABITS: Travels alone or in small flocks, and forages among the branches of hardwood trees and palms for fruits, rather than on the ground as in most other pigeons. Although this species forages in low coastal forests, it can be hard to see well because it often flies like a terrain-hugging missile---flying up and down right above the treetops. When traveling long distances, it may fly so high that it is barely noticeable in the sky. At mid-day it rests by sitting still just within the forest canopy. Both sexes share in building a shallow stick nest, lined with softer vegetation. Both sexes incubate the 1-2 white eggs for 13-15 days. The male does most of the incubation during the day while the female incubates primarily at night. During the first few days after hatching, the nestlings are fed only pigeon’s milk, which is rich in lipids and protein. Both parents gradually add fruit to the diet, until 2/3 of the diet is fruit at two weeks after hatching. The chicks fledge at 17-25 days. Will sometimes raise more than one brood per year. Birds travel extensively among islands looking for food: White-crowned Pigeons banded on St. Croix in the Virgin Islands have been recovered in Puerto Rico. Nestlings banded in the Bahamas have also been recovered in Puerto Rico.

STATUS AND CONSERVATION: Now a very local, permanent resident in Puerto Rico. It was common and more widespread in the 19^th Century, but hunting and destruction of coastal forests have reduced this species’ population dramatically. There is no legal hunting season on this species in Puerto Rico.

RANGE: Breeds from the Bahamas and the Florida Keys east to Antigua, and on islands off of Central America. Regular locations to find this species include the grounds of the Dorado Beach Hotel, in the coastal forests near the Dorado public beaches, and in the limestone hills from Toa Baja to Vega Baja, e.g. along PR 646.

TAXONOMY: COLUMBIFORMES; COLUMBIDAE

References

Arendt, W.J. 1992. Status of North American migrant landbirds in the Caribbean region: a summary. Pp. 143-171 in Ecology and conservation of neotropical migrant landbirds (J.M. Hagan III and D.W. Johnston, eds.) Smithsonian Instit. Press, Washington, D.C.

Bancroft, T.G., and R. Bowman. 1994. Temporal patterns in diet of nestling White-crowned Pigeons: implications for conservation of frugivorous columbids. The Auk 111(4):844-852.

Bancroft, T.G., Bowman, R., and R. J. Sawicki. 2000. Rainfall, fruiting phenology, and the nesting season of White-crowned Pigeons in the upper Florida Keys. The Auk 117(2):416-426.

Bancroft, G. T. and R. Bowman. 2001. White-crowned Pigeon (Columba leucocephala). No. 596 in The Birds of North America (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia, PA.

Bent, A.C. 1938. Life histories of North American gallinaceous birds. Smithsonian Instit. U.S. National Museum Bull. 162. (Reprinted by Dover Press, NY, 1963).

Bradley, P. and Y. Rey-Millet. 1985. Birds of the Cayman Islands. P.E. Bradley, George Town, Grand Cayman.

del Hoyo, J., A. Elliott, and J. Sargatal, eds. 1998. Handbook of Birds of the World, Vol. 4. Sandgrouse to cuckoos. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona.

García, M. A, C. E. Diez, and A. O. Álvarez. 2001. The impact of feral cats on Mona Island wildlife and recommendations for their control. Carib. J. Sci. 37:107-108.

Gibbs, D., E. Barnes, and J. Cox. 2001. Pigeons and doves: A guide to the pigeons and doves of the world. Yale University Press.

Johnson, K. P., S. de Kort, K. Dinwoodey, A. C. Mateman, C. ten Cate, C. M. Lessells, and D. H. Clayton. 2001. A molecular phylogeny of the dove genera Streptopelia and Columba.. Auk 118(4):874-887.

Levey, D. J. and C. Martínez del Rio. 2001. It takes guts (and more) to eat fruit: lessons from avian nutritional ecology. Auk. 118(4): 819-831.

Norton, R. L. and G. A. Seaman. 1985. Post-fledging distribution of White-crowned Pigeons banded in St. Croix, Virgin Islands. J. Field Ornith. 56:416-418.

Ortiz Rosas, P. 1981. Guía del cazador: aves de caza y especies protegidas. Depto. de Recursos Naturales, San Juan, PR.

Raffaele, H.A. 1989. A guide to the birds of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Princeton.

Raffaele, H.A. 1989. Una guía a las aves de Puerto Rico y las Islas Vírgenes. Publishing Resources, Inc., Santurce, PR.

Raffaele, H.A., J.W. Wiley, O.H. Garrido, A.R. Keith, and J.I. Raffaele. 1998. Guide to the birds of the West Indies. Princeton.

Rivera-Milán, F.F. 1992. Distribution and abundance patterns of columbids in Puerto Rico. Condor 94:224-238.

Rivera-Milán, F.F. 1996. Nest density and success of columbids in Puerto Rico. Condor 98:100-113.

Saliva, J.E. 1994. Vieques y su fauna: Vieques wildlife manual. U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Boquerón, PR.

Strong, A. M. 2001. Exploitation of a seasonal resource by nonbreeding plain and White-crowned pigeons: Implications for conservation of tropical dry forests. Wilson Bull. 113(1):73-77.

Wiley, J. W. and B. N. Wiley. 1979. The biology of the White-crowned Pigeon. Wildlife Monographs. No. 64. The Wildlife Society.

White-crowned Pigeon, Spanish text

Next related species in taxonomic order

Previous related species in taxonomic order

Back to Species Selection Page Menu

Return to first page of the CD-ROM