Eared dove

Lore & Background

The eared dove is a resident breeder throughout South America from Colombia to southern Argentina and Chile, and on offshore islands from the Grenadines southwards. It may be a relatively recent colonist of Tobago and Trinidad. It appears to be partially migratory, its movements driven by food supplies. Adult males have olive-brown upperparts with black spots on the wings, a grey crown, black line behind the eye, and blue-black on the lower ear coverts, which give the species its English and specific names. The underparts are vinous, the tail tipped with cinnamon, the bill black, and the legs dark red. Females are duller, and immature birds are greyish-brown with pale barring. The call is a deep soft oo-ah-oo.

Reader's Guide

The eared dove is common to abundant in savannahs and other open areas, including cultivation, and readily adapts to human habitation. It feeds mainly on seed and grain taken from the ground and can be an agricultural pest. When in season, agricultural plants such as wheat, rice, sorghum, maize and soybeans may comprise the entirety of the diet. It is gregarious when not feeding and forms flocks especially at migration time or at communal roosts. Its flight is high, fast, and direct. It builds a small stick nest several meters up in a tree and lays two white eggs, which hatch in 12–14 days with another 9 days to fledging. No fixed breeding season is seen in most of their range; provided with plentiful food and habitat, birds breed almost continuously. The eared dove provides the last big-bag shooting experience in the world. More than 23 million are thought to be in the fields around Córdoba in northern Argentina, with recent estimates putting the figure in the 32-million range. The hunting pressure recalls the numbers of passenger pigeons taken in the 1800s, but the eared dove seems more resilient, breeding four times a year and thriving on vast areas of grain. In Bolivia, around the Gran Chaco region, dove shooting is more seasonal, from May to September, with large flocks arriving from Argentina.

Did You Know?

• The eared dove's English and specific names come from the blue-black markings on its lower ear coverts.
• More than 23 million eared doves are thought to be in the fields around Córdoba, Argentina, with recent estimates near 32 million.
• In Bolivia, eared doves are called by the Guaraní name 'totaky' and were quite rare in the region just a few decades ago.

Position Among the Grebes

The Eared grebe appears in the Sawtooth National Recreation Area bird list as one of four grebe species documented for the region. It shares this category with the Pied-billed grebe, Western grebe, and Clark's grebe. This grouping places the Eared grebe firmly within the waterbird community of central Idaho, alongside other aquatic species like the American white pelican, double-crested cormorant, and the extensive array of ducks and geese. Its inclusion among species described as likely to breed or winter in the area suggests it is not merely a transient visitor but a regular participant in the local avian ecology. Its presence in this particular grouping—distinct from the herons, bitterns, and rails that occupy adjacent wetland niches—highlights the diversity of aquatic bird life the Sawtooth region supports and the distinct ecological roles each group fills.

The Broader Avian Tapestry

The Eared grebe is just one thread in an extraordinarily diverse tapestry of bird life documented for the Sawtooth National Recreation Area. The full list spans from Canada geese and wood ducks at one end to hummingbirds like the broad-tailed, rufous, and calliope at the other. Between them sit raptors ranging from bald eagles to sharp-shinned hawks, owls from snowy to mountain pygmy, woodpeckers from pileated to downy, and warblers from orange-crowned to Wilson's. The Eared grebe's inclusion among this vast assemblage underscores that the Sawtooth region provides habitat conditions suitable for an enormous range of ecological niches. Whether in the water, on the ground, in the trees, or in the open sky, the bird community of central Idaho is remarkably complete, and the Eared grebe occupies a small but distinct slice of that whole.

A Curated, Not Exhaustive, Record

The list on which the Eared grebe appears is explicitly described as incomplete and unofficial. It is not a comprehensive catalog of every bird ever sighted in the Sawtooth National Recreation Area. Rather, it primarily features species that are likely to breed or winter within the region's boundaries. Vagrants and migrants that merely pass through during seasonal movements are generally excluded. This means the Eared grebe's presence on the list carries a specific significance: it indicates a degree of residency or seasonal commitment to the area, rather than a one-time flyover. The list also notes certain non-native species—ring-necked pheasant, rock pigeon, European starling, and house sparrow—distinguishing them from the native fauna. This careful curation gives the Eared grebe's entry a particular weight as a representative of the region's established bird community.

Central Idaho's Aquatic Bird Community

The Eared grebe occupies a specific ecological niche within the Sawtooth National Recreation Area's aquatic bird community. In the broader list, water-associated species are grouped into distinct categories: geese, swans, and ducks (which include everything from Canada geese to buffleheads and mergansers); grebes (the Eared grebe's own group); pelicans; cormorants; and the bitterns, herons, and their allies. The Eared grebe sits in its own small category of four species, separate from the much larger duck and goose assemblage. This taxonomic separation reflects genuine ecological differences in feeding behavior and habitat use. The fact that the Sawtooth region supports all four of these grebe species simultaneously speaks to the variety of water bodies and conditions available in central Idaho, from larger lakes to smaller ponds where different grebe species find their preferred foraging grounds.