Common Ground-Dove

Look on open, sandy or sparsely vegetated ground in the southern United States, Mexico, and the Caribbean, where this small, scaly-breasted dove forages quietly by walking and pecking rather than flying between food patches. Its soft, repeated cooing call is a common background sound of dry scrub and open fields, and it tends to sit tight until closely approached before flushing low and fast. Most active at dawn and dusk, it can be found year-round across much of its range.