Zenaida Dove - Florida

One of seven dove species in the Zenaida genus, Zenaida aurita is an ABA Code-5 species with only a handful of records from Florida.  Larry Manfredi found the most recent ABA-area Zenaida Dove in Key Largo on 4 June.

Aurita translates as having long ears and Zenaida was the first name of French ornithologist, prince Charles Bonaparte's wife (A Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names, Jobling).  All of the other Zenaida congeners have 14 rectrices (tail feathers) not the 13 found in this species (HBW, Vol. 4.).

Itis believed, Zenaida Dove was once an inhabitant of the Florida Keys with two specimen records from the late 1800s (ABA Checklist, Seventh Edition, HBW Vol. 4.). It is a resident from the Bahamas, the West Indies, and the northern Yucatan Peninsula.