Chiriqui Quail-Dove

How to find it

Go early, when it is most likely to be out in the open along forest trails and roads. Walk quietly and watch the trail ahead, since feeding birds are most often seen right on it. Listen for the steady, swelling 'wooOoh' and try to place the bird before you step closer. If one crosses in front of you, wait still where it vanished: one tour group did exactly that and the bird walked back out close to them, followed by a second. Choose mid-elevation forest rather than the highest ground, where the Buff-fronted takes over.

How to recognise it

Start with size: a medium-sized dove, about 27 to 31 cm long, weighing roughly 295 to 308 g.

The adult male shows these marks:

- slate gray crown

- buffy face with a black malar stripe

- thin black eye line

- bare red skin around the eye

- chestnut shoulders

- reddish chest, fading to cinnamon on the belly

That cinnamon breast gives the bird its Spanish name. Because it lives on the ground, look low on the forest floor and along trail edges rather than up in the canopy.

Behaviour and diet

This dove spends most of its time on the ground. It is usually solitary but often feeds in pairs, eating seeds, fruit and small invertebrates. It usually stays under cover, though it can show up along roads and trails in early morning.

Males display by lowering the head and raising the tail.

Where it lives

In Costa Rica and Panama it lives in drier mid-elevation mountain forest, mostly between 600 and 1700 m. It is found locally as low as 300 m and as high as 3100 m. It keeps to the understory of the drier parts of the Talamancan montane forests.

In Costa Rica it is resident at intermediate elevations from the Cordillera de Guanacaste, north at least to Cerro Santa María, and south along all the main mountain ranges to Panama. It is also listed at Cloudbridge Nature Reserve and on a bird list for the Turrialba area.

When to see it

It sings most in the breeding season, which is when a birder is most likely to hear it. Early morning is when it is most likely to be seen in the open.

Similar birds

The Buff-fronted Quail-Dove overlaps widely in range, but the two are not found together. This one prefers drier mid-elevation forest, mainly at 600 to 1,700 m, while the Buff-fronted lives higher, at about 1,000 to 3,000 m in Costa Rica. Its song is a low, hollow 'hoOOOO' that rises slightly, unlike the steady, swelling 'wooOoh' here. Near Cinchona, quail-doves under the feeders are usually Buff-fronted, and Purplish-backed has a paler gray front and a smaller purple patch on the back.

Names and lore in Costa Rica

The Spanish name on the Costa Rican list is Paloma-Perdiz Pechicanela, which refers to the cinnamon-colored breast. In English it is also called the Rufous-breasted Quail-Dove, and it was once treated as the same species as the Lined Quail-Dove of northern South America.

Status and conservation

The official Costa Rican list codes it R-END, a resident regional endemic, and the IUCN rates it Least Concern, though the population is thought to be slowly decreasing.

Photography tips

Early morning along forest trails and roads is when it is most likely to be seen in the open. Waiting still where a bird has crossed a trail can bring it back into view, as one group found. Stay quiet and let it walk out to you rather than chasing it.