White-winged Dove

The White-winged Dove is a stocky, warm grayish-brown dove of the southwestern deserts, easily recognized by the broad white stripe along the edge of the folded wing that becomes a striking flash across the wing in flight. It has a relatively short, rounded (rather than pointed) tail with white corners, a red eye surrounded by bright blue bare skin, and a small black crescent mark below the eye. The species has a long ecological association with columnar cacti such as the saguaro, whose flowers and fruit provide an important food and water source in the arid desert environment.

Key field marks

• Bold white stripe along the wing edge, visible at rest and flashing prominently in flight
• Red eye with blue bare orbital skin and a small black crescent below the eye
• Rounded tail with white-tipped corners, unlike the pointed tail of Mourning Dove
• Stockier, more robust build than Mourning Dove

Similar species

Mourning Dove is slimmer with a long, pointed tail and lacks the bold white wing stripe. Rock Pigeon is bulkier and more variably plumaged without the clean white wing edge or blue-and-red eye pattern.

Habitat and Range

White-winged Doves inhabit desert scrub, thorn woodland, mesquite bosques, and, increasingly, urban and suburban neighborhoods with mature trees, especially in the desert Southwest.

Range

The species breeds across the southwestern United States (notably Arizona, Texas, New Mexico) south through Mexico and Central America, with populations expanding northward and into more urbanized areas in recent decades.

Migration

Many populations, especially in Arizona and Texas, are migratory, moving south into Mexico for the winter, though resident, non-migratory populations have become established in some urban areas year-round.

Behavior

White-winged Doves are strong, fast fliers and often gather in large numbers around reliable food sources, particularly flowering and fruiting saguaro and other columnar cacti in the desert Southwest.

Voice

The call is a distinctive, rhythmic series of coos often rendered as "who cooks for you," a useful mnemonic that helps distinguish it from other dove calls.

Feeding

Diet includes seeds, cultivated grain, and fruit, with historical dependence on the nectar, pollen, and fruit of saguaro and other cacti, which the species helps pollinate and disperse the seeds of.

Nesting and breeding

Pairs build a loose stick platform nest in a tree, shrub, or cactus, often nesting colonially, and typically lay two eggs per clutch, sometimes raising multiple broods per season.