White tipped dove, Atlantic Rainforest, Brazil

A secretive bird of the Neotropics, the White tipped Dove reaches the northern edge of its range in southern Texas. It spends most of its time foraging inconspicuously on the ground, occasionally bursting into the air with noisy wingbeats and distinctive flashes of chestnut color under the wings. The White-tipped Dove is more aggressive than other doves, often chasing other White-tipped Doves while foraging on the ground. As many as 13 or 14 subspecies of White-tipped Dove are recognized across its range. The white tipped dove (Leptotila verreauxi) is a large New World tropical dove. Its scientific name commemorates the French naturalists Jules and Edouard Verreaux. The dove is about 28 cm (11 in) long and weighs 155 g (5.5 oz). Adult birds of most races have a grey tinge from the crown to the nape, a pale grey or whitish forehead and a whitish throat. The eye-ring is typically red in most of its range, but blue in most of the Amazon and northern South America. The upperparts and wings are grey-brown, and the underparts are whitish shading to pinkish, dull grey or buff on the chest. The underwing coverts are rufous. The tail is broadly tipped with white, but this is best visible from below or in flight. The bill is black, the legs are red and the iris is yellow.

The white-tipped dove resembles the closely related grey-fronted dove (Leptotila rufaxilla), which prefers humid forest habitats. The best distinctions are the greyer forehead and crown, which contrast less with the hindcrown than in the grey-fronted dove. In the area of overlap, the white-tipped dove usually has a blue (not red) eye-ring, but this is not reliable in some parts of Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay and Uruguay, where it typically is red in both species. The food is Probably seeds and berries. Diet not well known. Evidently eats many seeds, including those of grasses, mesquites, and elms; also berries and fruits, including those of hackberry and prickly pear cactus. May eat some insects. Not globally threatened (Least Concern).