The Galapagos dove is endemic to the Galapagos Islands. There are two subspecies: (a) the one we saw which is on all of the major islands except Darwin and Wolf Islands; and (b) one that is found only on Darwin and Wolf Islands. We saw them twice, once on Fernandina Island in a grouping feeding on the ground, and the other time in the airport on Baltra roaming around the lunch tables eating crumbs from the floor.
It is a beautiful, boldly marked bird, perhaps the most beautiful dove I am aware of. It is a dark brown with a reddish brown breast, neck and head, a buff belly and brown wings streaked with white and black. The very distinctive skin around the eye is iridescent blue with a black outside border and the eye is brown. The black bill is curved downwards and the feet and legs are reddish.
I think of doves as more elongated and slender, and while beautiful in coloring, these are a bit squat and pudgy.
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