Short-billed Pigeon

The short-billed pigeon (Patagioenas nigrirostris) is a largish pigeon which breeds from southern Mexico south to northwestern Colombia. It is a member of a clade of Patagioenas that contains the smaller and rather plain species with characteristic calls that constitute the subgenus Oenoenas. It is found in lowland forest canopy and semi-open woodland, and builds a rudimentary platform nest out of twigs 5–30 m (16–98 ft) high in a tree or amongst vines. It lays one white egg. The short-billed pigeon is 26.5 cm (10.4 in) long and weighs 150 g (5.3 oz). It is unpatterned and mainly wine-purple in colour, becoming browner on the belly and more olive-brown on the back. The tail and primary flight feathers are blackish, the bill is black, and the legs and eyes are purple-red. The female is slightly duller and browner than the male, and the juvenile bird has a greyish brown head, neck and breast, with cinnamon scaling on the head and upperparts. The short-billed pigeon has a complex, loud and high-pitched call coo... cu-COO k’CO coohoo; this is usually uttered singly or at least with considerable pauses between calls. It is normally sighted in pairs as it forages in the tree…