Eared dove

Eared dove
In Oranjestad, Aruba
Scientific classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Columbiformes
Family: Columbidae
Genus: Zenaida
Species:
Z. auriculata
Binomial name
Zenaida auriculata
(Des Murs, 1847)

The eared dove (Zenaida auriculata) is a New World dove. It is a resident breeder throughout South America from Colombia to southern Argentina and Chile, and on the offshore islands from the Grenadines southwards. It may be a relatively recent colonist of Tobago and Trinidad. It appears to be partially migratory, its movements driven by food supplies.

It is a close relative of the North American mourning dove. With that species, the Socorro dove, and possibly the Galápagos dove, it forms a superspecies. The latter two are insular offshoots, the Socorro birds from ancestral mourning doves, and the Galápagos ones from more ancient stock.