Red-billed Pigeon

Overview
Red-billed Pigeon: Large dove with dull purple head and breast, olive-brown back, and blue-gray belly. Wings are blue-gray with olive-brown tertials. Tail is black. Feet and legs are red. Eyes are orange or red with bright red eyelids. Bill is red with yellow tip. Swift direct flight.

Range and Habitat
Red-billed Pigeon: Breeds from south Sonora, Mexico south in lowlands along the Pacific slope to Chiapas, and the lower Rio Grande Valley of south Texas and Mexico from eastern Nuevo Leon and Tamaulipas, south along the Atlantic slope to the Yucatan states. Populations of northeastern Mexico and Texas move south during non-breeding season. Prefers tropical deciduous forests.

The Red-billed Pigeon has a large range, estimated globally at 830,000 square kilometers. Native to the United States and Mexico as well as Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua, this bird prefers neritic, oceanic, and coastal marine ecosystems. The global population of this bird is estimated at 500,000 to 5,000,000 individuals and does not show signs of decline that would necessitate inclusion on the IUCN Red List. For this reason, the current evaluation status of the Red-billed Pigeon is Least Concern.

NTERESTING FACTS
Deforestation and damage to riparian communities by flood control and agricultural irrigation projects have precipitated a decline of this species in south Texas and Mexico. The breeding season of the Red-billed Pigeon may be prolonged with several broods per year. A group of pigeons has many collective nouns, including a "band", "dropping", "loft", "passel" and "school" of pigeons.