Red-billed Pigeon
Patagioenas flavirostris
eBird describes the Red-billed Pigeon like this: Large dark pigeon. Body and wings mostly bluish-gray with maroon-colored neck and shoulders. Note red bill with pale yellowish tip. Immature paler grayish without maroon tones. Common from Mexico to Costa Rica, mainly in lowlands and foothills. Barely enters the U.S. in Rio Grande Valley of south Texas. Typically seen in pairs or small flocks, often perched conspicuously in a variety of habitats, including open forests, patchy farmland, and mangroves. Tends to be fairly shy. Separated from other pigeons in Middle America by large size, bill pattern, and dark tail and undertail coverts. Listen for low cooing song: “whoo, whoop-a-whoo.”
The Birds of the World site gives this introductory information about the Red-Billed Pigeon:
This dark, arboreal, fruit-eating pigeon serves as the “standard large, hot-country pigeon” of the lowlands and foothills of Mexico and Central America (1: 412). The distribution of this tropical pigeon extends from southern Costa Rica to northern Mexico, including a limited distribution in the United States (southern Texas), along the lower Rio Grande valley. This species’ bill is bicolored—red on the base and cere, with a more noticeable yellowish tip, characters referenced in both its common (Red-billed) and scientific (flavirostris = “yellow bill”) names.
The life history of the Red-billed Pigeon remains poorly known, with the most extensive contributions being those of Alexander Skutch, who made observations of breeding individuals in Costa Rica; Eitniear and Aragon-Tapia , who documented nesting observations in northeastern Mexico; and Breeden, who made observations of breeding individuals in southern Texas. Much of this species’ biology is similar to other pigeons, including courtship and nesting rituals. Red-billed pigeons usually lay a single-egg clutch. In the southern range it inhabits semiarid lowlands and into mountains up to 7,000 feet [2,130 m]. At its northern range in southern Texas, this species was primarily observed in riparian woodlands along the Rio Grande consisting of bald cypress (Taxodium distichum), Mexican ash (Fraxinus berlandieriana), Texas sugarberry (Celtis laevigata), Texas ebony (Ebenopsis ebano), and black willow (Salix nigra). The biology of the Band-tailed Pigeon (Patagioenas fasciata; see Keppie and Braun) provides a model of life history that approximates the behavior and breeding the Red-billed Pigeon. This species is sometimes sympatric with the Band-tailed Pigeon in northeastern and central Mexico, but the Red-billed Pigeon occurs at lower elevations and Band-tailed Pigeon generally inhabits dryer montane forests.
I saw my first Red-billed Pigeons on the grounds of Hotel Robledal in Alajuela, Costa Rica, on the early morning (before breakfast) of Sunday, February 5, 2023. A pair of the birds was perched high in the trees in the wooded area behind the hotel. I didn’t get very good photos in the morning light, but here they are. To see the blog of my trip that includes watching these birds, look here.
