Scaled Pigeon Gallery

Patagioenas speciosa

The Birds of the World website provides this description of the Scaled Pigeon:  The attractively plumaged and generally fairly common Scaled Pigeon is widely distributed through the Neotropics, from southern Mexico in the north, to southern Brazil, and including the island of Trinidad. The head is purplish and the upperparts are reddish brown, while the underparts are distinctive in appearing blackish heavily spotted with white (the pattern being less marked in females). The bill is reddish with a yellow tip. This pigeon prefers forested areas, although it will venture into clearings and edge habitats, and has been found locally as high as 1500 m above sea level. The Scaled Pigeon is generally observed in the canopy, but readily perches on exposed limbs, meaning that it is not difficult to find. Flocks of up to 100 individuals have been reported.

I saw, and photographed my first Scaled Pigeon on August 17, 2023 in Brazil.  I was part of a Jeff Parker Tour that was watching a Harpy Eagle nest on a private ranch in the Amazon Basin region when I watched this colorful bird.  For more details about the location where I watched this bird, see my blog post here.  Here are a few photos I took of the Scaled Pigeon.