# White-crowned Pigeon

Scientific name: Patagioenas leucocephala

Bird group: [pigeon](https://birdsofpuertorico.com/family/pigeon)

Canonical source: https://birdsofpuertorico.com/bird/54/White-crowned-Pigeon

## Identification

The white-crowned pigeon (Patagioenas leucocephala) is a fruit and seed-eating species of bird in the dove and pigeon family Columbidae. It is found primarily in the Caribbean.


## Distribution and habitat

The White-crowned Pigeon is a common to locally common 
breeding resident in The Bahamas, 
Cuba, Jamaica, Antigua, Hispaniola, 
Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, San 
Andrés, and Providencia (Raffaele 
and others 1998). It is a common to 
fairly common resident in Vieques 
(Biaggi 1997, Gemmill 2015) and is 
also fairly common on Culebra and 
Mona (Ventosa-Febles and others 
2005). The resident population 
on Puerto Rico is believed to be 
augmented in spring and summer 
by visiting White-crowned Pigeons 
from other islands, which also breed on the main and satellite 
islands (Raffaele 1989a). Wetmore 
(1916) found the White-crowned 
Pigeon in only a few localities on 
the north coast of Puerto Rico (e.g., 
Punta Picu, north of Mameyes) 
and suggested that the species 
was more abundant on the island 
in the 1870s as described by 
Gundlach (1878). The populations 
of White-crowned Pigeons were 
sufficiently abundant for detailed 
studies of nesting biology in Mona, 
Dorado, and Roosevelt Roads Naval 
Base during 1973–1975 by Wiley 
and Wiley (1979). Both Raffaele 
(1989b) and Oberle (2018) note 
that the pigeon is common in 
Dorado. During 1995–2008, the 
White-crowned Pigeon population 
increased from low numbers, 
possibly due to increased second-
growth forests used for foraging 
and nesting (Rivera-Milán 1996, 2001). The species usually inhabits 
coastal woodlands and mangroves 
during the breeding season but can 
be found inland in the mountains 
when not breeding (Raffaele and 
others 1998). The atlas fieldwork 
yielded a total of 139 records within 
88 hexagons or 18 percent of the 
479 total hexagons (see map). In 
the 88 hexagons where this species 
was found, breeding met the atlas 
definition of confirmed in 11 percent 
(10) of the hexagons, probable in 
22 percent (19), and possible in 65 
percent (57), while the species was 
observed in 2 percent (2) of the 
hexagons but without evidence of 
breeding (see map). Atlas results 
suggest that the pigeon may still be 
expanding its breeding range on 
Puerto Rico where it remains fairly 
local and common in southwestern, 
north-central, and eastern portions 
of the island.White-crowned Pigeon distribution. The map shows the highest breeding code by hexagon and overlaying the ecological life zones 
in Puerto Rico. Note: percentages may not total 100 due to rounding.       45White-crowned Pigeon/Paloma Cabeciblanca

## Breeding

The White-crowned Pigeon generally nests in colonies and builds a fl imsy 
twig nest, usually in mangroves or 
dry scrub but also in trees around 
towns (Raffaele and others 1998). 
In Puerto Rico some birds breed 
in trees bordering a golf course 
(Wiley and Wiley 1979). Both sexes 
share the building of the nest and 
egg incubation; the male does most 
of the incubation during the day, 
while the female incubates mostly 
at night (Wiley and Wiley 1979). 
Previously published reports indicate 
that breeding occurs primarily from 
March to August but sometimes 
as late as September (Raffaele and 
others 1998, Wiley and Wiley 1979). 
However, breeding season may vary 
with location on the island, and 
breeding in the southwest is not always synchronized with breeding 
in the northeast portion of the 
island. Atlas results suggest that this 
species breeding season extends 
throughout the year with most 
breeding activity from April to June 
(see chart). The breeding activity 
peaks in May and mostly takes place 
within the subtropical moist forest 
life zone (see chart). Results show 
that this species breeds mostly in 
lowlands within the subtropical 
moist forest life zone (67 percent 
of the hexagons) (see table). It 
also breeds in the subtropical dry 
forest life zone (27 percent of the 
hexagons) (see table and map).

## Conservation

The current population trend of the 
White-crowned Pigeon is described as decreasing (Butcher and Niven 
2007). This species is currently 
listed as a near threatened species 
by the IUCN (BirdLife International 
2016). In Puerto Rico, the White-
crowned Pigeon is classified as data 
deficient (PRDNER 2016). A decline 
in abundance in counts during 2008–
2014 suggests that increased illegal 
hunting may have been a driver 
of the observed decline, although 
urban development and other threats 
could also have affected the islands 
population (Rivera-Milán and others 
2016). In Puerto Rico, the White-
crowned Pigeon has a protected 
habitat in land of 16.8 percent or 
343 km2 of the total area covered by the hexagons where evidence of 
breeding was found for this species 
(2031 km2).

Photo: https://birdsofpuertorico.com/static/images/webp/in_054_Im0.png.webp

Distribution map: https://birdsofpuertorico.com/static/images/webp/in_054_Im1.png.webp

Source note: Text is reproduced from this site's published record. Historical conservation statements and taxonomy have not been independently revalidated. See https://birdsofpuertorico.com/about for source credits and limitations.