Eared Dove
Peru’s abundant open-country dove links a small black cheek mark with spotted wings, reddish legs, and flocks that can expand from a few town birds to moving clouds over crops.
Artwork inspired by Florencio Molina Campos
Eared Doves are pale gray-brown to olive-brown with black spots on the wings and neck, a small black mark behind the eye, reddish legs, and an iridescent neck patch. They range from sea level to roughly 4,000 meters across South American farms, towns, grasslands, and scrub.
Large feeding flocks reveal how effectively the species uses concentrated seed, but abundance is not an identification character. In western Peru, separate Eared Dove from the larger West Peruvian Dove by the latter’s broad white wing patch; use several marks and a flight view rather than flock size alone.
- Face
- Small black “ear” mark behind the eye
- Wing
- Dark spots without a broad white patch
- Range of settings
- Open and disturbed habitat from coast to high valleys
Quick guide
- Confirm one bird first
- Combine cheek mark, wing spots, reddish legs, neck sheen, and proportions
- Estimate the flock second
- Use blocks or photographs and avoid repeated flushing
Separate one Eared Dove before interpreting the flock
- Begin with the face and folded wing
- Look for a small black cheek mark behind the eye and scattered black wing spots on a pale gray-brown dove.
- Compare the West Peruvian Dove
- Watch a natural takeoff for the broad white wing patch expected on West Peruvian Dove.
- Read Peru’s elevation and land use
- Record coast, irrigated field, high valley, reservoir edge, town, or scrub and estimate elevation.
- Count without moving the birds
- Choose a fixed field edge or public path and estimate birds in blocks as the flock feeds or passes.
Good to know
A crop-side aggregation is temporary, not one stable super-flock. Eared Dove numbers shift quickly as seed, harvest, water, disturbance, and roost conditions change across the Peruvian landscape.
Notice these
- Small black cheek mark
- Black wing and neck spots
- Reddish legs
- Large mobile open-country flocks