Picazuro Pigeon

Patagioenas picazuro

The Birds of the World website introduces the Picazuro Pigeon with this descriptive information:  The Picazuro Pigeon is a resident of gallery forest and grassland from central Brazil to Argentina.  A large, handsomely colored pigeon, the Pizcuro Pigeon has a pinkish purple head, nape and breast, bluish gray flanks and tail coverts, shiny black scaled feathers on the neck, and white bands on the wings.  The foraging habits of this pigeon are poorly known, but the diet includes seeds, buds, berries, leaves and some insects. A study in Mato Grosso, Brazil found that Picazuro Pigeons migrate seasonally to the Paraguayan Chaco where flocks of 200 or more individuals were encountered.

I met my first Picazuro Pigeon on Thursday morning, August 24, 2023.  Our Jeff Parker Tour group had been staying at Southwild’s Fazenda Santa Tereza and on this was our last morning there, since after breakfast we left for Porto Jofre and the Jaguar Flotel.  I spotted this bird during a morning visit to the feeder right outside the dining hall at Santa Tereza.  For details of my Brazilian trip that include the sighting of this bird, look here.  Below are a couple of my photos of this striking Pigeon.