CreatureData

Ruddy ground dove

Columbina talpacoti (Temminck, 1810)

LCLeast Concernbirds

The ruddy ground dove (Columbina talpacoti) is a species in the family Columbidae, order Columbiformes. Recorded adults weigh 46 g to 46.5 g. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.

Ruddy ground dove (Columbina talpacoti)
Photo: Dario Sanches from SÃO PAULO, BRASIL · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts about the ruddy ground dove

Weight
46 gsrc for Weight
Length
Not recorded
Lifespan
Not recorded
Diet
Granivoresrc for Diet
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
human_modifiedsrc for Habitat
Egg incubation
12.5 dayssrc for Egg incubation
Young per litter or clutch
2src for Young per litter or clutch
Litters or clutches a year
2.5src for Litters or clutches a year
Lifestyle
Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
Migration
Partialsrc for Migration
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
Countries on record
Not recorded

Photos of the ruddy ground dove

Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.

1 more photo exists under a licence we cannot display: view at source.

Where does the ruddy ground dove live?

Not recorded

What is the ruddy ground dove?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

The ruddy ground dove (Columbina talpacoti) is a small New World tropical dove. It is a resident breeder from Mexico south to Brazil, Peru and Paraguay, and northern Argentina, and on Trinidad and Tobago. Individual birds can sometimes be seen in the southwestern USA, from southern Texas to southernmost California, primarily during winter.

The ruddy ground dove is very common in scrub and other open country, including cultivated land and urban centers, where it can be seen feeding on grain alongside feral pigeons. It builds a solid but sparsely lined cup-shaped stick nest in a tree and lays two white eggs. Incubation is 12–13 days with another 12–14 days to fledging. There may be a second or third brood. Chick mortality through predation and falls from the nest is high.

Its flight is fast and direct, with the regular beats and occasional sharp flick of the wings which are characteristic of pigeons in general.

Ruddy ground doves are small short-tailed pigeons, 17 cm (6.7 in) long with a weight normally about 47 g (1.7 oz). Adult males have a pale grey head and neck, and rich rufous upperparts, black-spotted on the wing coverts. The underparts are paler brown, the tail is edged black, and the underwings are cinnamon and black. The female is grey-brown rather than rufous, and has less contrast between head and body than the male.

Ruddy ground doves feed mainly on seeds, but also sometimes on snails and small insects. Their call is a soft cooing cur-WOO.This species can be quite approachable. Males frequently threaten each other by jumping and raising a wing, and brief confrontations may ensue.

From the Wikipedia article “Ruddy ground dove” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ruddy_ground_dove&oldid=1322269080), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.

Is the ruddy ground dove endangered?

The ruddy ground dove is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.

  1. LCLeast Concern
  2. NTNear Threatened
  3. VUVulnerable
  4. ENEndangered
  5. CRCritically Endangered
  6. EWExtinct in the Wild
  7. EXExtinct

Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species. What the categories mean.

How is the ruddy ground dove classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classAves
  4. orderColumbiformes
  5. familyColumbidae
  6. genusColumbina
  7. SpeciesColumbina talpacoti (Temminck, 1810)

Synonyms Columba talpacoti, Columbigallina talpacoti

Other names and names in other languages (55)
  • Ruddy ground-doveEnglish
  • Ruddy ground-doveEnglish
  • Ruddy ground-doveEnglish
  • يمام الأرض المحمرArabic
  • tórtora terrestre rogencaCatalan
  • holoubek skořicovýCzech
  • turtur ddaear gochWelsh
  • RustdueDanish
  • RosttäubchenGerman
  • rufa grundokolomboEsperanto
  • Ruĝeca grundokolomboEsperanto
  • Tórtola rojizaSpanish
  • Columbina coloradaSpanish
  • Torcacita coloradaSpanish
  • Tortolita CanelaSpanish
  • Tortolita RojizaSpanish
  • ruuge-värbtuviEstonian
  • کبوتر خاکی گلگونPersian
  • kastanjavarpuskyyhkyFinnish
  • Colombe rousseFrench
  • Tourteline rousseFrench
  • kestenjasti golubCroatian
  • fahéjszínű galambocskaHungarian
  • Tortora di TalpacotItalian
  • Tortorina rossicciaItalian
  • ケアシスズメバトJapanese
  • keashisuzumebatoJapanese
  • rudasis dirvinis purplelisLithuanian
  • rudā zemesdūjaLatvian
  • Кӹрӓн рок тыргӓдӹWestern Mari
  • Shádiʼááhdę́ę́ʼ hasbídí yázhí łichíʼígííNavajo
  • SteenduifDutch
  • kaneldueNorwegian
  • Totolica VenesolanoPapiamento
  • gołąbeczek cynamonowyPolish
  • کولمبینا ٹالپاکوٹیWestern Panjabi
  • RolinhaPortuguese
  • Rola-roxaPortuguese
  • Rolinha-caldo-de-feijãoPortuguese
  • Rolinha-comumPortuguese
  • rolinha-coradaPortuguese
  • rolinha-roxaPortuguese
  • Коричневая земляная горлицаRussian
  • Коричневая карликовая горлицаRussian
  • dudlavec škoricovýSlovak
  • hrdlička škoricováSlovak
  • Crvenkasti livadski golubićSerbian
  • asimikándjesrm
  • RostmarkduvaSwedish
  • rostsparvduvaSwedish
  • Kızıl Serçe KumrusuTurkish
  • талпакоті коричневийUkrainian
  • Cu đất hungVietnamese
  • 紅地鳩Chinese
  • 红地鸠Chinese

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistTAXREFWikidataIUCN Red List

Relatives of the ruddy ground dove

Other species in the same genus Columbina.

LC, Least Concern
Inca dove (Columbina inca)

Inca dove

Columbina inca

Columbidae

LC, Least Concern
Scaled dove (Columbina squammata)

Scaled dove

Columbina squammata

Columbidae

CompareRuddy ground dove vs Common ground doveRuddy ground dove vs Blue-eyed ground doveRuddy ground dove vs Inca doveRuddy ground dove vs Croaking ground dove

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

How big is the ruddy ground dove?

An adult ruddy ground dove weighs 46 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

Is the ruddy ground dove endangered?

The ruddy ground dove is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is not currently at risk of extinction.

What kind of animal is the ruddy ground dove?

The ruddy ground dove (Columbina talpacoti) belongs to the family Columbidae in the order Columbiformes.

Sources and how to cite this page

Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). Ruddy ground dove (Columbina talpacoti). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/ruddy-ground-dove

MLA

“Ruddy ground dove (Columbina talpacoti).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/ruddy-ground-dove.

BibTeX
@misc{ruddy_ground_dove_2026,
  title = {Ruddy ground dove (Columbina talpacoti)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/ruddy-ground-dove},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}