Ruddy Pigeon

How to find it

Start by learning the call, because the bird is shy and often heard before it is seen. Look in the highlands, where it is resident, and remember that outside the breeding season it often drops to about 900 m, especially on the Caribbean slope. Scan fruiting trees, since it feeds on fruit and mistletoe berries. Check forest trails and roadside edges too, where it may take grit. Birders have recorded it by ear at San Gerardo and Tapantí.

How to recognise it

This is a plain pigeon with no bold pattern, about 28 cm long. It is mostly wine-purple, turning more reddish-brown on the back.

Look for these marks:

Head, neck and underparts: dull wine colour.

Wings and tail: dark olive-brown with a purplish gloss; the tail and flight feathers read as dark brown.

Bill: short and black.

Legs and feet: purplish red to magenta.

Eye: usually red.

Females are slightly duller than males. Young birds have a greyish-brown head, neck and breast, with cinnamon or rufous scaling on the head and upperparts. These details describe the species across its range, not only Costa Rican birds.

What it sounds like

Recording: Dan MacNeal, CC BY 4.0, source, read 4 Nov 2026.

Behaviour and diet

The Ruddy Pigeon eats the fruits of trees, epiphytes and shrubs, especially mistletoe berries. It is usually seen alone or in small groups. It is shy, and it is often detected by voice before it is seen. Sometimes it appears on forest trails or roadside edges, where it takes grit. Little is known about the life history of this wide-ranging pigeon, particularly its feeding and breeding habits, so every careful observation counts.

Where it lives

In Costa Rica this is a bird of the mountains. The Costa Rican form lives in the subtropical zone of Costa Rica and Panama. It is a widespread resident, though usually not abundant, from the Cordillera de Tilarán southward. The Museo Nacional de Costa Rica lists it among the birds of the Talamanca páramos, the high-elevation treeless zone of the Talamanca mountains. It breeds mainly from about 1500 m up to the tree line, and it is on the bird list of Cloudbridge Nature Reserve.

When to see it

It breeds mainly from about 1500 m up to the tree line. Outside the breeding season it often moves down to about 900 m, especially on the Caribbean slope, which makes it easier to find lower down then.

Similar birds

In Costa Rica the Short-billed Pigeon is the lookalike, and voice is the only reliable way to tell them apart. The Ruddy usually lives higher, and the two overlap only in a narrow band of elevations, at some mid-mountain sites. The Ruddy's song is faster and simpler, while the Short-billed's is slower and more complex. The Short-billed also has a darker back and a larger, stouter bill.

Names and lore in Costa Rica

The official Spanish name is Paloma Rojiza, and Paloma Morada is a common alternative. Morada and Torcaza are also used. Paloma Morada is a catch-all name that covers several large pigeons, including the Scaled Pigeon and the Short-billed Pigeon, so it can cause confusion.

Status and conservation

The official list of Costa Rican birds (AOCR) marks the Ruddy Pigeon as a resident (R), present in the country year-round.

Photography tips

The bird is shy and is often detected by voice before it is seen. Try forest trails or roadside edges, where it sometimes takes grit, and scan fruiting trees for birds feeding quietly.