Red-billed Pigeon

How to find it

Look and listen for it in palm trees and in open country with scattered trees. It is large and conspicuous, and its cooing gives away its position. Birders in Alajuela first noticed these pigeons by their cooing from a palm tree, then easily saw the large birds. Around Turrialba it is shy but nests in gardens, and it is seen and heard daily, flying off with audible wingbeats. Because it feeds over a wide area, a second look later in the day can pay off. Farther east and south it is reported much less and is replaced in the lowlands by the Pale-vented Pigeon.

How to recognise it

Adults have a wine-purple head, neck and breast, a blue-gray belly and rump, and a dark tail.

The eyes are orange with a red eye-ring, the legs are magenta, and the bill is pale ivory with a pink base.

It is a large pigeon, about 30 cm long and about 230 g. The male's purple tones are brighter than the female's.

Young birds are duller than adults, with dark eyes and a dark bill.

Across its range, it stands out from other Middle American pigeons by its large size, its bill pattern, and a dark tail with dark undertail coverts.

What it sounds like

Recording: Arturo Benavides Mendoza, CC BY 4.0, source, read 4 Nov 2026.

Behaviour and diet

It spends most of its time high above the ground, picking fruits and berries from the crowns of trees and shrubs. In Costa Rica it is usually alone or in pairs, and small flocks of up to 10 sometimes form, mainly in the dry season.

It nests on a flimsy platform of twigs, often in a palm crown, and lays a single white egg. Costa Rican sources give a breeding season of March to August.

It is also nomadic. Each bird travels daily over a wide area to feed, so it may appear and disappear from a garden or field during the day.

Where it lives

It lives in savanna and pasture with scattered trees, young secondary forest, scrub, farmland, forest clearings, and towns and suburbs.

In Costa Rica it ranges from the lowlands up to about 2,100 m, and it is a little more numerous at middle elevations where there are large clearings.

It is a fairly common resident in the dry lowlands of the northwest and in the Central Valley. It is uncommon across the Caribbean lowlands south to Limón and only occasional in the southern Pacific lowlands.

When to see it

Breeding runs from March to August, so nesting pairs in palms and gardens are most likely in those months. Small flocks of up to 10 form mainly in the dry season, which is when you are most likely to meet more than a single bird or a pair.

Similar birds

Ruddy, Short-billed and Pale-vented Pigeons all have dark bills, so the pale bill of an adult Red-billed Pigeon is the easiest way to tell it apart. A blue-gray belly and a less brown back also help separate it from the Ruddy and Short-billed Pigeons. Remember that a young Red-billed has a dark bill too, so check its duller purple tones.

Names and lore in Costa Rica

Costa Rican sources list several local names for it: Morada, Paloma Morada, Torcaza and Paloma Piquirroja. The AOCR list adds Paloma Morada Común in brackets.

Status and conservation

The AOCR list gives it as a resident in Costa Rica, and the IUCN lists the species as Least Concern.

Photography tips

It tends to be fairly shy, but it often perches in the open where it is easy to see. Scan palm crowns and open country with scattered trees, and let the cooing guide you to the bird.