Blue Ground Dove

People usually look up the Blue Ground-Dove when they’ve seen a small dove slipping through edge habitat—blue-grey in the male, brown in the female—and want to confirm what it is, where it occurs, and whether it’s rare or protected.

The name can also trip people up. “Blue Ground-Dove” is not an Australian bird, and it shouldn’t be confused with other “ground-doves” from different regions. The notes below keep the identification grounded in reliable field marks, then place the species in its real range, habitat, and conservation context.

Quick facts (Blue Ground-Dove)

Common name: Blue Ground-Dove
Scientific name: Claravis pretiosa
Family: Columbidae (pigeons and doves)
Size: About 20 cm long; roughly 65–72 g (varies by sex and condition)¹
Conservation status: Least Concern (global)^{2, 3}

What it looks like (and what people usually notice first)

The Blue Ground-Dove is a small, slender dove with a long, pointed tail and a gentle, low profile when it feeds. Males are mostly blue-grey, with darker flight feathers and a distinctive pattern of dark spotting on the wings. Females are warmer brown overall, also marked with darker wing spots, and can look surprisingly different from the male at a quick glance.¹

Useful field marks

• Male: blue-grey body; blackish flight feathers; bold dark spotting across the wings.¹
• Female: brown head and breast with paler underparts; wing spotting still obvious; overall more “earthy” than the male.¹
• Shape: small dove with a relatively long tail; often seen walking and feeding on the ground in semi-open cover.¹

Where it lives (habitat)

This species favours semi-open places with cover nearby—forest edges, open woodland, clearings, roadside vegetation, and similar habitat mosaics, often in more humid landscapes. It is commonly described as a ground-feeding dove, but it also uses low trees and shrubs for resting and nesting.¹

Range and distribution (not Australia)

The Blue Ground-Dove is a New World species. Its range runs from south-eastern Mexico through Central America into South America, reaching as far as northern Argentina; it also occurs on Trinidad.^{1, 4}

If you’re searching from Australia, a “blue ground dove” report is usually one of three things: a misheard name, a misidentification, or a reference to a different ground-dove species entirely. The scientific name is the quickest way to pin down which bird a source is describing.

Diet and foraging

Like many small doves, the Blue Ground-Dove feeds mostly on seeds, taken on the ground. It may also take small insects, and it swallows grit to help grind food in the gizzard.^{1, 5}

Behaviour (how it moves through the landscape)

Most sightings are of single birds or pairs, moving quietly along the ground under light cover and pausing to feed before slipping back into vegetation. The overall impression is of a bird that prefers to stay unobtrusive, even in fairly open country.¹

Breeding and nesting

The nest is a light, flimsy platform of twigs, usually placed above the ground in a tree or shrub (often recorded from about 1–11 m high). Clutch size is typically two white eggs.¹

Threats and conservation status

Globally, the Blue Ground-Dove is listed as Least Concern. That doesn’t mean it’s untouched by change—local declines can still happen where habitat is cleared or heavily altered—but it is not currently assessed as globally threatened.^{2, 3}

Similar species and common mix-ups

Confusion usually comes from the general “ground-dove” look: small-bodied doves that feed low, flush quickly, and show subtle differences in wing pattern and tail shape. In the Americas, females can be mistaken for other small brown ground-doves; in other parts of the world, the mix-up is more basic—similar common names being applied to completely different species.

If you’re checking a sighting, focus on the combination of (1) male blue-grey plumage, (2) strong wing spotting, and (3) the species being recorded within its New World range.^{1, 4}

References

1. Wikipedia — “Blue ground dove” (summary of identification, range, habitat and breeding; cites BirdLife International)
2. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species — search entry for Claravis pretiosa (conservation status)
3. Birds of the World (Cornell Lab) — Blue Ground Dove (Claravis pretiosa) species account (status and taxonomy overview)
4. U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service — Blue Ground Dove (Claravis pretiosa) species profile
5. Birda — Blue Ground Dove (diet notes: seeds, small insects, grit)

Sophie Kininmonth

Veterinary Advisor, Veterinarian London Area, United Kingdom