White-Crowned Pigeon

Another beautiful bird among the doves and pigeons I saw in Jamaica was the white-crowned pigeon. It is a species I really hoped to see. 

The white-crowned pigeon is found primarily in the Caribbean. It mainly breeds in the Bahamas, Cuba, Jamaica and Antigua, but is found in lesser numbers in Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands and Anguilla. It can also be found on the Carribean coast of Central America and in southern Florida, in the Everglades and Florida Keys. 

They mainly live and breed in coastal red mangrove forests and go inland to feed on fruits and seeds. 

It can be a slate gray to black and has an iridescent collar patch which can only be seen in good light. The crown patch is a white to gray white. It has a white iris and a pale red bill with a gray tip. 

I saw only two of them and both were on the grounds of the Hotel Mockingbird Hill outside of Port Antonio. I did notice mangrove trees along waters edge as we drove along the coast in the area.