Pygmy turtle dove (SciiFii)

The pygmy turtle dove (Nanostreptopelia passera), also known as the Eurasian diamond dove and the American diamond dove, is a species of pigeon that originally did not exist, but has since been created by SciiFii and introduced throughout the rainforests, wetlands, forests, open woodlands, grasslands, shrublands, scrublands, and deserts across Eurasia and North America to help boost biodiversity. The closest living relative of the pygmy turtle dove is the band-tailed pigeon (Patagioenas fasciata). The pygmy turtle dove is a small pigeon with a length of 19 to 21 centimeters or 9 to 11 inches. Regardless of sex, both have white spots and black edges on their wings, red eyes and reddish-orange eye-rings. The sexes look similar except the female's eye ring is less vivid and has more of a brown colour to the plumage. The male's head, neck, and breast are light blue. The bill is a dark grey colour. The abdomen is a creamy colour while the back and tail is a brown-grey colour. The legs and feet are pink. The juveniles have a light grey bill; the iris and eye ring is fawn in colour; the feet and legs are grey; the breast is grey and does not possess any white spots on their wings. Regardless of its astoundingly small size (weighing only about 35 grams), it has a great tolerance to high heat and cold levels due to adaptations in body temperature, metabolism, respiration, water balance, and behaviour. The pygmy turtle dove is often seen on the ground, where it runs with a waddling gait. Its flight is strong, direct, and sometimes undulating. The wings can make a whistling "frrr" noise when flying. Pygmy turtle doves tend to be seen in pairs or small groups feeding off the ground. They feed off seed mostly from grasses. They will also eat ants. The pygmy turtle doves tend to breed after rain in more arid areas, but breeds during the spring in more humid and cooler environments. Nests are usually built from interwoven grasses and/or twigs, and are fragile in construction. Two or three white eggs are usually laid and incubated for 13 to 14 days. Their chicks are fast to grow, and are usually fully feathered and flying by two weeks. They are known to have a variety of calls. The calls sound mournful, slow and have a soft, pleasant falsetto quality to them. Two calls consist of two long coos followed by a pause and then a long, short and long coo. Sometimes they call two long coos. The alarm coo consists of a few short but loud coos. The conservation status of the pygmy turtle dove is Least Concern due to successful conservation efforts, the pygmy turtle dove's wide range and its tolerance to many of the human activities.
Category:Animals
Category:Species
Category:SciiFii