Zenaida meloda
Silhouette: Danielle Alba · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10%
The West Peruvian dove or Pacific dove (Zenaida meloda), known locally as tórtola melódica or cuculí, is a species of dove in the genus Zenaida found on the South American Pacific coast. It was initially described by Swiss naturalist Johann Jakob von Tschudi in 1843 as Columba meloda, based upon a holotype specimen collected from a western slope of the Andes mountains in Peru. It has previously been considered conspecific with the white-winged dove (Zenaida asiatica), but has been retained as its own species based on genetic data and differences in plumage, soft part coloration, and vocalization and territorial song, which is not a learned behavior in doves.
Speciation between the white-winged dove and West Peruvian dove likely took place between 2 to 2.7 million years ago, beginning shortly after the formation of the Central American land bridge (around 3 million years ago), which enabled the dispersal of North American Zenaida doves into Central & South America and facilitated speciation.
The white-winged dove and the West Peruvian dove are each others' closest relatives, and they together form a clade which is a sister group to the rest of genus Zenaida. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Machalilla National Park | 🇪🇨 Ecuador | |
| 2 | Lauca National Park | 🇨🇱 Chile |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Burgers' Ocean | 🇳🇱 Netherlands | |
| 2 | Royal Burgers' Zoo | 🇳🇱 Netherlands | |
| 3 | Papiliorama | 🇨🇭 Switzerland |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Pacific Dove sighting in Lauca National Park on a given day, based on 15 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 103rd most-seen of the 112 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, if each day is a fresh chance.
May and July
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Pacific Dove in Lauca National Park on a given day, against under 5% in June and August–April, the lowest months. Those are among Lauca National Park's driest months, with almost no rain against 150 mm in January.
Between 2 and 5 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Pacific Dove sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
2nd of 2
Of the 2 parks where we can rate Pacific Dove sightings, Lauca National Park ranks 2nd at under 5%. The best odds are in Machalilla National Park (Ecuador, about 30%).
Same family: Columbidae
The closest relatives of the Pacific Dove that you can see in Lauca National Park (family Columbidae, Pigeons and Doves) are Spot-winged Pigeon (about 50%), Bare-faced Ground-Dove (about 40%) and Black-winged Ground-Dove (about 30%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Pacific Dove is recorded against all the birds logged in Lauca National Park (15 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.
