Grenada Dove | Leptotila wellsi

Voice

A drawn-out, mournful note, hoooo, loudest at the start and then fading, repeated at intervals of a few seconds. The call is heard mainly in the early morning and during the breeding season from cover in the forest. Counts of the species rely largely on calling birds.

Identification

28–31 cm, a fairly large, compact ground dove with few markings. The forehead and face are pale pink, shading to dull brown on the crown and nape. The throat is white. The upperparts are plain olive-brown, with no spots or white stripes on the wing. The breast is pinkish buff and the belly whitish. There is little white in the tail, only narrow pale tips to the outer feathers. The underwing is rufous, which shows on take-off. The sexes are alike.

Confusion species

Zenaida Dove Zenaida aurita is smaller and warmer brown, with black spots on the wing, a white trailing edge to the secondaries and black and white tips to the tail; it sits in the open more often. Eared Dove Zenaida auriculata is slimmer, with black spots on the wing and cheek. Ruddy Quail-Dove Geotrygon montana is rusty brown with a pale cheek stripe and lives mainly in moister forest. Common Ground Dove Columbina passerina is much smaller and has rufous flight feathers.

Habitat

Dry coastal forest: dry deciduous forest, thorn woodland and a mosaic of semi-evergreen and seasonal forest on hill slopes, often in degraded form with shrubs and open patches. The bird walks on the ground, searching the leaf litter for seeds, fallen fruit and small invertebrates. It stays close to cover and avoids open ground. The nest is a loose platform of twigs, low in a shrub or tree.

Range and movements

Only in Grenada, in two separate areas: around Mount Hartman on the south-west coast, which holds almost half of the birds, and along the west coast between Perseverance and Beauséjour and the valley of Grenville Vale. No established populations are known from other forest areas on the island, and the species does not occur on Carriacou or the other Grenadines. It lives nowhere outside Grenada.

• Resident
• dark = core range, pale = thinly spread

How and when to look

Mount Hartman National Park in south-western Grenada is the best-known site; the call can be heard from the trails in the early morning, but the bird itself seldom shows. Waiting quietly at a spot with a view of the forest floor gives the best chance. The area is small and the species vulnerable: keeping to the trails and not playing recordings limits disturbance.

Conservation status

Critically Endangered. In 1988 fewer than one hundred birds were counted; an estimate from 2013 came to fewer than 250. The main threats are the loss of dry forest to development, agriculture and fire, introduced predators such as mongoose, rats, feral cats and opossum, and hurricanes; after Hurricane Ivan in 2004 only a few birds were heard at Mount Hartman. Low genetic diversity further hampers recovery.

Scientific name

Leptotila wellsi | (Lawrence, 1884)

Lawrence described the species in 1884 as Engyptila wellsi; because it was later moved to another genus, the author and year stand in brackets. The genus Leptotila was introduced in 1837 by Swainson. Leptotila is Greek, from leptos 'slender' and ptilon 'feather', after the abruptly narrowed outermost primary. wellsi honours John Grant Wells, a collector resident on Grenada who gathered the island's birds for George N. Lawrence. The specimen the first description was based on came from Fontenoy, St. George's, Grenada.