Columbina is a genus of small doves in the family Columbidae that live in the New World. They range from the southern United States through Central America and much of South America. Columbina doves are normally found in pairs or small flocks and generally occur in open country. They have maroon irides and pinkish legs. In flight, some species show a distinctive flash of rufous in the wings, while others show black-and-white wing-patterns.
Taxonomy The genus was introduced in 1825 by the German naturalist Johann Baptist von Spix. The name is from Latin columbinus meaning "of a dove" or "dove-like". The type species was designated as the C. strepitans by English zoologist George Robert Gray in 1841. This taxon is now considered as a subspecies of the picui ground dove Columbina picui strepitans.
The genus contains nine species:
Image Scientific name Common name Distribution Columbina inca Inca dove Columbina squamata Scaled dove northwestern andeastern South America Columbina passerina Common ground dove tropical Americas Columbina minuta Plain-breasted ground dove Columbina buckleyi Ecuadorian ground dove western Ecuador,nonwestern Peru Columbina talpacoti Ruddy ground dove Columbina picui Picui ground dove South America Columbina cruziana Croaking ground dove coastal Ecuador and Peru Columbina cyanopis Blue-eyed ground dove southern Cerrado
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