Adult: The Common Ground-Dove is rapidly becoming less common all over Florida due to ongoing habitat destruction. Declining, yes; this small gentle bird which produces young at almost any time all year long, and which is thought to be more prolific than the Mourning Dove. Sadly, the ground-dove is not known to many birders.

Common Ground-Doves are stocky short-tailed birds with plain gray backs and scaled heads and breasts. The wings have purple spots and rusty-colored primaries; the tail is dark. The bill is black-tipped red and the feet are red-pink. Eyelids are lavender. (We can vouch for this little gem as the hen some-times naps in the sunshine on our deck rail.) Male has dark gray crown and pinky-gray underparts. The female is gray and more drab overall.

The ground-dove’s soft repetitive call, an ascending “coo-uhh coo-uhh” is unobtrusive enough to remain almost unnoticed at the periphery of one’s hearing. Unafraid and tame, Common Ground-Doves go about in pairs, heads bobbing in unison.

Immature: Similar to adult. Drab like female.

Habitat: Almost any Florida habitat from sea coast to pine flatwoods, except the wet places - swamp or marsh.

The Common Ground-Dove is a Florida resident. It produces as many as four clutches each year from February - October.

Text by Mary Jean Rogers, West Volusia Audubon.