Eared Dove

The eared dove is 24 cm (9.4 in) long with a long, wedge-shaped tail, and weighs normally about 112 g (4.0 oz). Adult males have mainly olive-brown upperpart plumage, with black spots on the wings. The head has a grey crown, black line behind the eye, and the blue-black on the lower ear coverts. These black markings give the species its English and specific names. The underparts are vinous, and the tail is tipped with cinnamon. The bill is black and the legs dark red. The female is duller than the male, and immature birds are greyish-brown, very dull, with pale barring. The species' call is a deep soft oo-ah-oo.

The eared dove is common to abundant in savannahs and other open areas, including cultivation, and it readily adapts to human habitation, being seen on wires and telephone posts near towns in Trinidad and Venezuela, in almost all public spaces of large urban areas such as Bogotá, Colombia, and feeding near beach resorts in Tobago. Eared doves feed mainly on seed and grain taken from the ground. They can be agricultural pests. When in season, agricultural plants such as wheat, rice, sorghum, maize and soybeans may comprise the entirety of the diet. Echinochloa colona, a common savannah grass, and Croton jacobinensis are important seed food for these doves. Their diet may also be augmented by animal foods, such as caterpillars, insect pupae, aphids and snails. This is a gregarious bird when not feeding, and forms flocks especially at migration time or at communal roosts. Its flight is high, fast, and direct, with the regular beats and an occasional sharp flick of the wings, which are characteristic of pigeons in general. It also has a breeding display with a steep climb and semicircular glide down to its original perch. It builds a small stick nest several meters up in a tree and lays two white eggs. These hatch in 12–14 days with another 9 days to fledging. …