White-crowned pigeon (Patagioenas leucocephala) - PigeonSubstance
4 years ago by mr_pigeonwizard · 154 Likes · 4 comments · Fresh
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mr_pigeonwizard
· 4 years ago
· FIRST
The white-crowned pigeon (Patagioenas leucocephala) is a species of bird in the dove and pigeon family Columbidae. It inhabits the northern and central Caribbean islands and some places on the North and Central American mainland. John James Audubon painted the pigeons, including the watercolour in his work Birds of America, published in the early 19th century.
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mr_pigeonwizard
· 4 years ago
In the first half of the 18th century the white-crowned pigeon was described and illustrated by several naturalist 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.[7] 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 as the type species. The species is monotypic: no subspecies are recognised.
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mr_pigeonwizard
· 4 years ago
The white-crowned pigeon can measure 29–35 cm (11–14 in) in length, span 48–59 cm (19–23 in) across the wings, and weigh 150–301 g (5.3–10.6 oz). It is around the same size as the common rock pigeon, but weighs a bit less since it is generally less chunky and has a relatively longer and more square tail. Adult birds' plumage varies from a slate gray to an almost-black color. Its iridescent collar-patch is notably only seen under good lighting, shining a barred white pattern with green. Their distinct crown-patch can vary in shade of color from a more bright white in males to a more gray-white in most females. Juveniles can have a grayish-brown color for They have a white iris and a pale-tipped red bill. Juveniles are a less dark shade of grey, lack the nape pattern and white iris, and show only a few pale feathers on the crown.
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mr_pigeonwizard
· 4 years ago
Their call is a loud, deep coo-cura-coo or coo-croo. This species is a member of a diverse clade of Patagioenas which vary much in appearance, but are united by their triple coos (except in the scaled pigeon).
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