Bridled Quail-Dove
Description
The bridled quail-dove (Geotrygon mystacea) is a species of bird in the family Columbidae. It is found from Saint Lucia in the Lesser Antilles north and west to Puerto Rico.
Specimens of bridled quail-dove from several islands had mean weights between 208 and 224 g (7.3 and 7.9 oz) with fairly large standard deviations. These data and measurements of various body parts suggest that the species "has low morphometric variance across its distribution."
Distribution & Habitat
The Bridled Quail-Dove is an extremely rare resident species
in Puerto Rico (Raffaele and
others 1998). On Vieques, it is
described as a rare resident,
restricted to the higher elevations
of Mt. Pirata and Cerro El Buey
(Gemmill 2015), and there are
also records from Culebra (Biaggi
1997). This species is a secretive
forest dweller that prefers dense
mountain or lowland woodlands
(Boal 2011, Raffaele and others
1998). The atlas fieldwork
yielded a total of 10 records
within three hexagons or 0.6
percent of the 479 total hexagons (see map). Of the three hexagons
where this species was found,
breeding met the atlas definition
of confirmed in 33 percent (one)
of the hexagons and possible in
67 percent (two) (see map).
Breeding Habits
Bridled Quail-Dove nests are small platforms of twigs that
are placed in vines, shrubs, and
trees at a low height. Previously
published reports indicate that
breeding takes place primarily
from May to July but also from
October to December (Boal
2011, Raffaele and others 1998).
Atlas results do not show a clear Bridled Quail-Dove 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. 59Bridled Quail-Dove/Paloma Perdiz de Martinicapattern as evidence of breeding is very low for this species (see chart). Results show that all
breeding activity was associated
with the subtropical moist forest
life zone (100 percent of the
hexagons) (see table and map).
Conservation
The Bridled Quail-Dove population is suspected to
be declining owing to habitat alteration and loss throughout its
distribution (mostly the eastern
Caribbean and Virgin Islands);
introduction of mongooses
(Herpestes auropunctatus), cats (Felis catus), and rats (Rattus
spp.) to islands; and hunting
(Boal 2011). However, the
Bridled Quail-Dove is listed as
a species of least concern by
the IUCN (BirdLife International
2016), whereas in Puerto Rico it is a conservation priority due
to lack of data (PRDNER 2015,
2016). In Puerto Rico, the Bridled
Quail-Dove has a protected
habitat in land of 23 percent or
16 km2 of the total area covered by the hexagons where evidence
of breeding was found for this
species (71 km2).
Related Species
Family:
dove