The Blue Ground Dove (Claravis pretiosa) is a small New World tropical dove. It is a resident breeder from southeastern Mexico to northwestern Peru and northern Argentina, and on Trinidad. Scientific classification or biological classification is how biologists group and categorize extinct and living species of organisms (as opposed to folk taxonomy). ... Phyla Subregnum Parazoa Porifera (sponges) Subregnum Agnotozoa Placozoa (trichoplax) Orthonectida (orthonectids) Rhombozoa (rhombozoans) Subregnum Eumetazoa Radiata (unranked) (radial symmetry) Ctenophora (comb jellies) Cnidaria (coral, jellyfish, anemones) Bilateria (unranked) (bilateral symmetry) Acoelomorpha (basal) Orthonectida (parasitic to flatworms, echinoderms, etc. ... Typical Classes Subphylum Urochordata - Tunicatas Ascidiacea Thaliacea Larvacea Subphylum Cephalochordata - Lancelets Subphylum Myxini - Hagfishes Subphylum Vertebrata - Vertebrates Petromyzontida - Lampreys Placodermi (extinct) Chondrichthyes - Cartilaginous fishes Acanthodii (extinct) Actinopterygii - Ray-finned fishes Actinistia - Coelacanths Dipnoi - Lungfishes Amphibia - Amphibians Reptilia - Reptiles Aves - Birds Mammalia - Mammals Chordates (phylum Chordata) include the vertebrates, together with... Orders Many - see section below. ... Families Raphidae Columbidae The order Columbiformes includes two families of birds: the Raphidae, to which the extinct Dodo and Rodrigues Solitaires belonged, and the Columbidae, which includes the very widespread and successful doves and pigeons. ... Pigeon redirects here. ... In biology, binomial nomenclature is the formal method of naming species. ... 1886 (MDCCCLXXXVI) is a common year starting on Friday (click on link to calendar) // Events January 18 - Modern field hockey is born with the formation of The Hockey Association in England. ... Carte dAmérique, Guillaume Delisle, c. ... Pigeon redirects here; for other uses, see Pigeon (disambiguation). ... Trinidad (Spanish, Trinity) is the largest and most populous of the 23 islands which make up the country of Trinidad and Tobago. ...

The Blue Ground Dove is common in open woodland, forest edges, clearings and roadsides, especially in more humid areas. It is found from sea level to about 1200 m altitude. It builds a flimsy dish nest of twigs 1-11 m high in a tree and lays two white eggs. A basket style nest A nest is place of refuge built to hold an animals eggs and/or provide a place to raise their offspring. ...

Blue Ground Doves are small pigeons, 20 cm long with a weight of 65-72 g . Adult males have blue-grey upperparts and paler grey underparts, becoming grey-white on the face. The flight feathers and outer tail feathers are blackish, and the wings are boldly marked with black. The iris is red or yellow, the bare eyering is green, and the legs are flesh-pink. The female has a grey-brown head neck and breast, becoming pale blue-grey on the underwings and belly. The back is ruddy brown, contrasting with the chestnut rump and tail. Young birds resemble the female, but have ruddy scaling on the back.

The male is unlikely to be confused with other species, but the female resembles the smaller, shorter-tailed Columbina ground doves. The contrasting rump and woodland habitat are good identification points, and a blue grey and a brown bird flying through the trees together is bound to be this species.

Blue Ground Doves occur singly or in pairs. They feed mainly on the ground on seeds and small insects, and take grit. The male’s song, given from the treetops, is a loud boop. Classes & Orders See taxonomy Insects are invertebrate animals of the Class Insecta, the largest and (on land) most widely-distributed taxon within the phylum Arthropoda. ...

References

• ffrench, Birds of Trinidad and Tobago ISBN 0-7136-6759-1
• Hilty, Birds of Venezuela, ISBN 0-7136-6418-5
• Stiles and Skutch, A guide to the birds of Costa Rica ISBN 0-0814-9600-4