Leptotila jamaicensis
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~30% in a week ~60%
The Caribbean dove (Leptotila jamaicensis) is a species of bird in the family Columbidae. It is found in Belize, the Cayman Islands, Colombia (San Andrés island), Honduras (Bay Islands), Jamaica, and Mexico (Yucatán Peninsula). It has been introduced to the Bahamas.
In the 18th century, the Caribbean dove was described under the name "white-bellied dove" by several naturalists including John Ray in 1713, Hans Sloane in 1725 and Patrick Browne in 1756. In 1760, the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson included a description of the Caribbean dove in his six volume Ornithologie. He used the French name Le pigeon de la Jamaïque and the Latin Columba jamaicensis. Although Brisson coined Latin names for species, these do not conform to the binomial system and are not recognised by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature. When in 1766 the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus updated his Systema Naturae for the twelfth edition, he included the Caribbean dove and placed it with the other pigeons in the genus Columba. Linnaeus included a brief description, used Brisson's Latin name Columba jamaicensis as the binomial name and cited the earlier authors... Wikipedia →
Song0:08
Mexico · 2019
© Eric Antonio Martinez · XC487492 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Song0:43
Mexico · 2018
© Manuel Grosselet · XC423190 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Recording0:33
Mexico · 2022
© dbeadle · iNaturalist · CC BY-NC 4.0
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arrecifes de Cozumel National Park | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 2 | Blue and John Crow Mountains National Park | 🇯🇲 Jamaica | |
| 3 | Celestún Biosphere Reserve | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 4 | Calakmul Biosphere Reserve | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 5 | Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 6 | Ría Lagartos Biosphere Reserve | 🇲🇽 Mexico |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Caribbean Dove sighting in Celestún Biosphere Reserve on a given day, based on 191 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 98th most-seen of the 297 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 30%, and over a week to about 60%, if each day is a fresh chance.
June
In that month about 40% of wildlife watchers report a Caribbean Dove in Celestún Biosphere Reserve on a given day, against under 5% in December and January, the lowest months. That is one of Celestún Biosphere Reserve's wettest months, with about 160 mm of rain against 10 mm in February.
Between 10 am and 1 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Caribbean Dove sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
3rd of 6
Of the 6 parks where we can rate Caribbean Dove sightings, Celestún Biosphere Reserve ranks 3rd at about 10%. The best odds are in Arrecifes de Cozumel National Park (Mexico, about 20%) and Blue and John Crow Mountains National Park (Jamaica, about 20%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Caribbean Dove is recorded against all the birds logged in Celestún Biosphere Reserve (191 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
