Columbina passerina
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days >90%
The common ground dove (Columbina passerina) is a small bird that inhabits the southern United States, parts of Central America, the Caribbean and northern South America. It is considered to be the smallest dove that inhabits the United States. As its name suggests, the bird spends the majority of its time on the ground, but can still fly.
The common ground dove was formally described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758, in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae. He placed it with all the other pigeons in the genus Columba and coined the binomial name Columba passerina. The specific name passerina is from the Latin passerinus meaning "sparrow-like". The species is now placed with other New World ground-doves in the genus Columbina that was introduced in 1825, by the German naturalist Johann Baptist von Spix. There are nine species in this genus including the Inca dove (Columbina inca) and the scaled dove (Columbina squammata).
There are 17 recognised subspecies: Males are paler and females have more white on their... Wikipedia →
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Havana | 🇨🇺 Cuba | |
| 2 | Santo Domingo | 🇩🇴 Dominican Republic | |
| 3 | São Luís | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 4 | Recife | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 5 | Belém | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 6 | Barranquilla | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 7 | Manaus | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 8 | Guatemala City | 🇬🇹 Guatemala | |
| 9 | Orlando | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 10 | San José | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | San Diego Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Burgers' Ocean | 🇳🇱 Netherlands | |
| 3 | Royal Burgers' Zoo | 🇳🇱 Netherlands | |
| 4 | Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum | 🇺🇸 United States |
Very likely
About 70% of wildlife watchers report a Common Ground-Dove sighting in Havana on a given day, based on 1,328 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 3rd most-seen of the 183 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
June and September–October
In those months about 80% of wildlife watchers report a Common Ground-Dove in Havana on a given day, against about 50% in March, the lowest month. Those are among Havana's wettest months, with about 100 mm of rain a month against 25 mm in March.
Between 7 and 10 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Common Ground-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.
Yes
Of the 32 cities where we can rate Common Ground-Dove sightings, Havana has the highest daily chance: about 70%. Next come Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic, about 60%) and São Luís (Brazil, about 50%).
Same family: Columbidae
The closest relatives of the Common Ground-Dove that you can see in Havana (family Columbidae, Pigeons and Doves) are Mourning Dove (about 60%) and Rock Pigeon (about 30%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Common Ground-Dove is recorded against all the birds logged in Havana (1,328 verified sightings), 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.
