• Welcome to BirdForum, the internet's largest birding community with thousands of members from all over the world. The forums are dedicated to wild birds, birding, binoculars and equipment and all that goes with it.

    Please register for an account to take part in the discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.
ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

White-throated Ground Dove - BirdForum Opus


Stub.png This article is incomplete.
This article is missing one or more sections. You can help the BirdForum Opus by expanding it.
Stub.png


Gallicolumba xanthonura

Identification

25cm. Sexually dimorphic. Stocky with a horizontal posture, slow wingbeats in flight.

Males :- White head and breast with a buff wash to the hind crown, nape and sides of neck. Rest of upperparts dark, metallic purple. underparts matt black. Wing coverts, tertials and secondaries dark oily green, primaries with thin yellowish margins. Tail dark oily green.

Females :- Overall greeny-brown. Back, rump, uppertail coverts and wings with bold orangish-buff margins. Tail - basal 33% greenish with yellow margins, central 33% plain green, distal 33% with broad yellow margins ( looks almost all yellow ).

Bare parts :- Black

Voice

Deep groaning "oooOOOooo". Rising in the middle. Very ventriloquial.

Distribution

Northern Mariana Islands from Guam ( may be extinct - or almost so - on Guam ) to Saipan and Waqab ( Yap ) in the Federated States of Micronesia,

Taxonomy

Habitat

Moist forest, shrubland and plantations.

Behaviour

Rather secretive, feeds less on the ground than other Gallicolumba sp. Always in pairs

External Links

Back
Top