Common Ground-Dove

Overview
Common Ground-Dove: Small, rounded dove with plain gray-brown back and scaled pink-gray head and breast. Eyes are red and bill is orange-red with black tip. The wings show rufous primaries in flight. Tail is short. Legs and feet are pink. Forages on ground. Swift direct flight with rapid wing beats.

Range and Habitat
Common Ground-Dove: Resident in southern parts of California, Arizona, and Texas, and east to southern North Carolina. Preferred habitats include fields, gardens, farmlands, and roadsides.

The Common Ground-Dove is one of the world’s smallest pigeons, and resides in tropical and subtropical climates. They can be found breeding and nesting in Aruba, Bermuda, Mexico, the Caribbean, South America, northern Brazil, and the southern United States such as Arizona, Texas and California. Living in warmer climates allows this species to reside permanently in it homeland. The Common Ground-Dove lives in scrub areas, fields, gardens and farmlands. This bird forages for food on the ground, and feed on seeds and small insects. Due to maintained and increasing population levels, the Common Ground-Dove has a conservation rating of Least Concern.

INTERESTING FACTS
Common Ground Doves are one of the world's smallest pigeons. They are rapidly becoming less common in Florida due to ongoing habitat destruction. A group of doves has many collective nouns, including a "bevy", "cote", "dole", "dule", and "flight" of doves.