Patagioenas leucocephala
Silhouette: Ferran Sayol · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~30%
The white-crowned pigeon (Patagioenas leucocephala) is a fruit and seed-eating species of bird in the dove and pigeon family Columbidae. It is found primarily in the Caribbean. John James Audubon painted these pigeons, including the watercolour painting in his work, Birds of America, published in the early 19th century.
In the first half of the 18th century the white-crowned pigeon was described and illustrated by several naturalists including John Ray in 1713, Hans Sloane in 1725 and Mark Catesby in 1731. When in 1758 the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus updated his Systema Naturae for the tenth edition, he placed the white-crowned pigeon with all the other pigeons in the genus Columba. Linnaeus included a brief description, coined the binomial name Columba leucocephala and cited the earlier authors. The specific epithet combines the Ancient Greek leukos meaning "white" and -kephalos meaning "-headed". Although Linnaeus gave the location as North America, the type locality is taken to be the Bahamas following Catesby. The species is now placed in the genus Patagioenas that was introduced by the German naturalist Ludwig Reichenbach in 1853 with the white-crowned pigeon... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arrecifes de Cozumel National Park | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 2 | Ciénaga de Zapata | 🇨🇺 Cuba | |
| 3 | Blue and John Crow Mountains National Park | 🇯🇲 Jamaica | |
| 4 | Bastimentos Island National Marine Park | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 5 | Los Haitises National Park | 🇩🇴 Dominican Republic | |
| 6 | Jaragua National Park | 🇩🇴 Dominican Republic | |
| 7 | Everglades National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 8 | La Amistad International Park (Panama) | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 9 | Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 10 | Tortuguero National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 11 | Big Cypress National Preserve | 🇺🇸 United States |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Miami | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Havana | 🇨🇺 Cuba | |
| 3 | Santo Domingo | 🇩🇴 Dominican Republic |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Night Safari | 🇸🇬 Singapore | |
| 2 | Singapore Zoo | 🇸🇬 Singapore | |
| 3 | Bird Paradise | 🇸🇬 Singapore | |
| 4 | Rainforest Wild Asia | 🇸🇬 Singapore | |
| 5 | Aviario Nacional de Colombia | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 6 | River Wonders | 🇸🇬 Singapore | |
| 7 | Bird Kingdom | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 8 | The Dig | 🇧🇸 Bahamas |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a White-crowned Pigeon sighting in Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve on a given day, based on 147 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 155th most-seen of the 288 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 30%, if each day is a fresh chance.
August
In that month about 20% of wildlife watchers report a White-crowned Pigeon in Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve on a given day, against under 5% in November to April, the lowest months.
Between 7 and 10 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most White-crowned Pigeon sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
9th of 11
Of the 11 parks where we can rate White-crowned Pigeon sightings, Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve ranks 9th at about 10%. The best odds are in Arrecifes de Cozumel National Park (Mexico, about 50%), Ciénaga de Zapata (Cuba, about 30%) and Blue and John Crow Mountains National Park (Jamaica, about 30%). All parks ranked.
Same genus: Patagioenas
The closest relatives of the White-crowned Pigeon that you can see in Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve (genus Patagioenas, New World Pigeons) are Red-billed Pigeon (about 10%) and Scaled Pigeon (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the White-crowned Pigeon is recorded against all the birds logged in Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve (147 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.
