Systematics

Columba mystacea Temminck, 1811, in Knip and Temminck, Les Pigeons, livraisons 14/15, p. 124, pl. 56.—Caribbean. For recommended citation details of this authorially contentious work, see Stresemann (11 Stresemann, E. (1953). Vögel, gesammelt von Labilliardiere während der ‘Voyage à la recherche de la Perouse’ 1791–1794. Mitteilungen aus dem Zoologische Museum in Berlin 29(1): 75–106. Close ) and Dickinson et al. (12 Dickinson, E. C., N. David, L. K. Overstreet, F. D. Steinheimer, and J. Jansen (2010). Histoire naturelle des pigeons or Les pigeons: Coenraad Jacob Temminck versus Pauline Knip. Archives of Natural History 37(2): 203–220. Close , 13 Dickinson, E. C., L. K. Overstreet, R. J. Dowsett, and M. D. Bruce (2011). Priority! The Dating of Scientific Names in Ornithology: A Directory to the Literature and its Reviewers. Aves Press, Northampton, UK. Close ). Both Temminck and Peters (14 Peters, J. L. (1937). Check-list of Birds of the World. Volume 3. Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA, USA. Close ) used the very vague type locality “l’Amerique” or “America”, respectively, as Temminck was unsure as to its more precise provenance (see also 15 Hellmayr, C. E., and B. Conover (1942). Catalogue of birds of the Americas and the adjacent islands in Field Museum of Natural History Part I, No. 1. Field Museum of Natural History Zoological Series Publication 514. Close ), but the terra typica of the type itself was noted by Schlegel (16 Schlegel, H. (1873). Aves Columbae. In Muséum d’Histoire Naturelle de Pays-Bas. Revue méthodique et critique des collections déposées dans cet établissement. Tome 10. E. J. Brill, Leiden, Leiden, The Netherlands. Close ) to be “San Domingo” [= Santo Domingo, Hispaniola], which is clearly erroneous given the species’ known distribution (14 Peters, J. L. (1937). Check-list of Birds of the World. Volume 3. Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA, USA. Close , 15 Hellmayr, C. E., and B. Conover (1942). Catalogue of birds of the Americas and the adjacent islands in Field Museum of Natural History Part I, No. 1. Field Museum of Natural History Zoological Series Publication 514. Close ). However, there can be no real doubt that the specimen emanated from somewhere in the Caribbean. The holotype, an adult mounted skin, is held at the Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Leiden (RMNH 87781) (17 van den Hoek Ostende, L. W., R. W. R. J. Dekker, and G. O. Keijl (1997). Type-specimens of Birds in the National Museum of Natural History, Leiden. Part 1. Non-passerines. NNM Technical Bulletin 1. Nationaal Natuurhistorisch Museum, Leiden, The Netherlands. Close ).

Synonyms

Geotrygon sabae Riley, 1903, Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington 16:13.—Saba Island, Leeward Islands, Caribbean Sea (18 Riley, J. H. (1903). Description of a new quail-dove from the West Indies. Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington 16: 13–14. Close ). The holotype is a subadult female collected by Frederick A. Ober sometime in 1880 (no later than 23 October, when received by the museum), and held in the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC (USNM 80982) (19 Deignan, H. G. (1961). Type specimens of birds in the United States National Museum. Bulletin of the United States National Museum 221:1–718. Close ). See comments in Danforth (20 Danforth, S. T. (1938). The races of Oreopeleia mystacea (Temminck). Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington 51: 73–74. Close ) and Hellmayr and Conover (15 Hellmayr, C. E., and B. Conover (1942). Catalogue of birds of the Americas and the adjacent islands in Field Museum of Natural History Part I, No. 1. Field Museum of Natural History Zoological Series Publication 514. Close ).

Oreopeleia mystacea beattyi Danforth, 1938, Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington 51:73.—Prosperity Garden, Saint Croix, American Virgin Islands, Caribbean Sea (20 Danforth, S. T. (1938). The races of Oreopeleia mystacea (Temminck). Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington 51: 73–74. Close ). The holotype is an adult male collected on 20 February 1938 by Harry A. Beatty, and previously in the collection of Stuart T. Danforth, now held in the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC (USNM 354229) (19 Deignan, H. G. (1961). Type specimens of birds in the United States National Museum. Bulletin of the United States National Museum 221:1–718. Close ). See comments in Hellmayr and Conover (15 Hellmayr, C. E., and B. Conover (1942). Catalogue of birds of the Americas and the adjacent islands in Field Museum of Natural History Part I, No. 1. Field Museum of Natural History Zoological Series Publication 514. Close ).

Limited information, but morphometrics (see Appearance: Measurements) and published descriptions suggest there is no significant geographic variation.

Monotypic.

There are 17 recognized species of Geotrygon (6 Gibbs, D., E. Barnes, and J. Cox (2001). Pigeons and Doves: A Guide to the Pigeons and Doves of the World. Pica Press, Robertsbridge, UK. Close ). Goodwin (21 Goodwin, D. (1977). Pigeons and Doves of the World. Second edition. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY, USA. Close ) considered Bridled Quail-Dove and Key West Quail-Dove (Geotrygon chrysia) as members of a superspecies. Bond (22 Bond, J. (1963). Derivation of the Antillean avifauna. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 115: 79–98. Close ) suggested Bridled Quail-Dove was derived from Key West Quail-Dove and had spread east and south across the Antilles. Johnson and Weckstein (23 Johnson, K. P., and J. D. Weckstein (2011). The Central American land bridge as an engine of diversification in New World doves. Journal of Biogeography 38: 1069–1076. Close ) reconstructed a phylogenetic tree for New World doves based on avian diversification across the Central American land-bridge; they suggested that the quail-doves (Geotrygon) were paraphyletic, falling into three separate lineages. Banks et al. (24 Banks, R. C., J. D. Weckstein, J. V. Remsen Jr., and K. P. Johnson (2013) Classification of a clade of New World doves (Columbidae: Zenaidini). Zootaxa 3669: 184–188. Close ) expanded on this, separating the traditional genus Geotrygon into three phylogenetic lineages: Zentrygon, Leptotrygon, and Geotrygon. Under this revision, Geotrygon would be reduced to nine species, among them Bridled Quail-Dove (24 Banks, R. C., J. D. Weckstein, J. V. Remsen Jr., and K. P. Johnson (2013) Classification of a clade of New World doves (Columbidae: Zenaidini). Zootaxa 3669: 184–188. Close ).

Local names include "wood dove" and "wood hen", indicating its preference for forest and woodland habitat.

No information.