Bridled Quail Dove
Geotrygon mystacea

AKA: Moustached Quail Dove

©Book of Puerto Rican Birds

Distribution: a rare inhabitant of the dry woodlands & forests in the West Indies: Virgin Islands, Lesser Antilles from Saba & Barbuda south to St. Lucia. A local rare resident, recently colonizing Puerto Rico; breeds on the islands of eastern Caribbean & regularly seen at the Vieques & Gusjataca state forests.

Description: (Temminck 1811) Length 24-30 cm. Forehead, crown, nape & hindneck dull bluish green; mantle & upperback iridescent amethyst; back, wing shields, rump, uppertail coverts dark olive brown; primary flight feathers reddish brown. Chin & throat white; sides of neck & breast vinous grey suffused with dull green iridescence on sides of breast. Has a broad white stripe below the eye bordered by brown. Color of breast shades to white on the belly; has reddish brown flanks & vent region. Iris orange-red or yellow; orbital skin red; bill reddish purple with greenish horn tip. Legs & feet coral red. Female duller with less iridescence. Juvenile olive brown with cinnamon feather edges; no iridescence.

Voice: 

Nesting: Clutch 2 buff or cream colored eggs; incubation 14 to 16 days; young fledge within two weeks. Young may leave the nest within 7-8 days. 

NOTES: Similar in shape to the Key West Quail Dove, but is smaller & with much duller upperparts & darker buff coloration below. See drawing below for comparisons. This drawing shows the Bridled with the "chestnut" flight feathers, this in incorrect.

©GIBBS BOOK

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