Ruddy Ground Dove

It measures 12–18 cm (4.7–7.1 in) in length and weighs about 35–56 g (1.2–2.0 oz). The male, with reddish brown feathers, dominant color on the adult's body, in contrast to the head, bluish gray. The female is all brown. In both sexes, on the wing there are a series of black spots on the feathers. The chicks come out with traces of the plumage of each sex. Subspecies It has 4 subspecies, only one of which occurs in Brazil:

Columbina talpacoti caucae (Chapman, 1915) - occurs in the Colca River valley in western Colombia. Columbina talpacoti eluta (Bangs, 1901) - occurs on the coast of the Pacific Ocean in Mexico from the north of the state of Sinaloa to the south of the state of Chiapas. Columbina talpacoti rufipennis (Bonaparte, 1855) - Central and Eastern Mexico, Central America to Colombia and Northern Venezuela including Margarita Island and the islands of Trinidad and Tobago. Columbina talpacoti talpacoti (Temminck, 1810) - Eastern Ecuador and Eastern and Northern Peru, Eastern Guyana, Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay, Northern Argentina and Brazil. Occasionally as a visitor in the central region and the Lakes region in Chile.

Adapts to artificial environments created by human action. Lives in open areas; the deforestation facilitated its expansion, especially in the areas formed to pasture or grain farming. They entered the big cities in the southeast and midwest regions of Brazil. Very aggressive with each other, although they can form groups, they compete for food and defend territories using one of the wings to strike hard at the opponent. The males are more bellicose. In disputes or when they sunbathe, lying on their side on the ground and with the wing stretched upwards, they show the large area of black feathers under the wing. Bird watchers in the south-central part of the United States have been observing a "replacement" of this species by another pigeon, Zenaida auriculata, also known as dove-of-band, or amargosinha eared dove. The latter species has been conquering the urban environment more and more effectively and is apparently competing with the dove, which is already less frequent than the flock pigeon in most cities in the interior of São Paulo. In any case, this friendly and even naive species is far from disappearing from the backyards of our houses and from the squares and gardens of our cities, even if they are in large buildings.