Ruddy Ground Dove

How to find it

Look in open farmland, pastures, roadsides and clearings rather than inside forest. It is often seen on roads and on wires, so scan wires and roadsides in open country. In an area of northern Costa Rica the doves were numerous, and a rarer small ground dove perched on a wire near them, so check each wire carefully. Small roadside groups can first look like sparrows, until a closer look shows a tiny dove with a small head, short bill and plump body. Listen for the male's repeated cooing, which can lead your eye to the bird.

How to recognise it

The male is the easy one to learn:

- Bluish grey head and neck, pale grey over rich rufous upperparts.

- Reddish brown body.

- A row of black spots on the wing, which on this species also reach up onto the scapulars, the shoulder feathers above the wing.

- Cinnamon and black underwings, which show in flight.

The female is plain brown, grey-brown instead of rufous, and her head and body contrast less than the male's. In Costa Rica she has a plain chest, no red on the bill and a reddish rump, with a relatively pale head. Both sexes are very small and short-tailed, about 17 cm long.

No other small dove in Costa Rica has black on the underwing lining, a handy mark when the bird flies.

What it sounds like

Recording: mitidi, CC0 1.0, source, read 4 Nov 2026.

Behaviour and diet

This dove can be quite approachable. It flies fast and straight, and low. If startled it takes off suddenly with noisy wingbeats. Males threaten rivals by jumping and raising a wing.

Pairs are devoted. They rest side by side on branches and preen each other, and when they meet at the nest they bob their heads and twitch their wings.

Non-breeding birds are very social. They form flocks of one species that can pass 200 birds, and they also mix with Inca, Common Ground and Plain-breasted Ground Doves.

Where it lives

In Costa Rica it prefers open areas such as pastures and farm fields. It also uses forest edges but avoids the forest interior. It is often seen along roads, up to about 1200 m elevation.

An older Costa Rican account calls it common to abundant in the deforested lowlands of the Caribbean slope, rising to about 1400 m. On the Pacific side it occurs in the south, and north along the coast to the Abangares river. It is described as common and widespread outside the highlands.

When to see it

It may breed in every month in Central America, so birds are around all year.

Similar birds

Common Ground Dove looks similar, but the Ruddy is redder overall, especially the male, and a little longer-tailed. It lacks the scaly chest pattern and the pink on the bill. Inca Dove is more slender and longer-tailed, with a scaly look and white tail edges, while the Ruddy has smoother, richer brown plumage. Plain-breasted Ground Dove is smaller and paler: tour birders found a pair on a wire among many Ruddies, which gave a handy size and colour comparison.

Names and lore in Costa Rica

In Costa Rica the bird goes by several names: palomita colorada, tortolita, tortolita colorada and tortolita rojiza. The name tortolita is also used for other small ground doves. The scientific species name comes from a Nahuatl word that means red dove, and the genus name Columbina means dove-like.

Status and conservation

Resident (R) on the AOCR list, common and widespread in Costa Rica outside the highlands, and rated Least Concern by the IUCN.

Photography tips

It forages on bare ground in open areas and flies low and fast. If startled it takes off suddenly with noisy wingbeats, so approach slowly. Roadsides and wires are good places to start, as it is often seen there.