White-Winged Dove
Zenaida asiatica
Also known as: American White-Winged Dove
About This Species
This pale, sandy-coloured dove shows a bold white wing patch in flight and gives a distinctive, rhythmic cooing often rendered as sounding like it is repeating a simple phrase. It favours arid scrub, desert edges, and increasingly urban and suburban areas across the southwestern United States and Mexico, perching conspicuously on wires and treetops. Spring and summer, during its vocal breeding season, offer the most frequent and easiest sightings.
Ethical Viewing Guidelines
- This is a habituated, often tolerant species around towns and gardens, and it can usually be watched at a comfortable distance without special caution.
- It is a protected migratory bird under federal law in the US, with hunting regulated by season and limit rather than unrestricted, so nests and non-game encounters should not involve handling or disturbance.
- Avoiding close approaches to active nests, which are often built in low shrubs or cacti, prevents accidental damage or abandonment.
LCAvesColumbiformesColumbidae
Seasonal Activity
3,224,387 sightings · 2000–2026
Citizen science records via GBIF
All monthsThis month
Classification
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Columbiformes
- Family
- Columbidae
Photo
(c) Roberto R. Calderón, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Roberto R. Calderón
CC-BY-NC-4.0
Occurrence data from GBIF.