Plain-breasted Ground Dove Gallery

Columbina minuta

Birds of the The World website offers these introductory words about the Plain-breasted Ground Dove:  The Plain-breasted Ground-Dove has a large but discontinuous distribution, from southern Mexico south through Central America to Colombia, over northern South America to Trinidad and the Guianas, and in central Brazil south to northeast Argentina, as well as on the Pacific coast of Ecuador and Peru. Both sexes of this ground-dwelling dove are most likely to be confused with the more widespread and familiar Ruddy Ground-Dove (Columbina talpacoti) and Common Ground-Dove (Columbina passerina). Compared to the former, the present species is much duller and less rufescent, whereas the latter species has a distinctively speckled appearance to the head and neck. The Plain-breasted Ground-Dove is usually found in rather arid areas, including second growth and cultivation, and has been seen to at least 2100 above sea level, but is usually encountered in the lowlands or foothills.

I saw and photographed my firstPlain-breasted Ground-Dove on August 19, 2023 in the Amazon Basin Region of Brazil.  Our small group with Jeff Parker Tours was at Southwild’s Fazenda São Nicolau located on the Juruena River west of Alta Floresta.  That morning we were up early for a boat ride then spent the rest of the day exploring various areas and trails at the ranch.  I saw the Plain-breasted Ground-Dove in the area near the main lodge.  For a more detailed description of the trip that included my sighting of this bird look at this blog post.  Here are some of my photos of this Dove.