Birdfinding.info ⇒ The “Ringtail” (as it is known locally) can be found on most outings in Cockpit Country and the Blue and John Crow Mountains, but can also be unpredictably difficult to find at times, possibly due to local wandering in search of fruiting trees. Sites where it can usually be found include Windsor, Barbecue Bottom / Burnt Hill Road, Stewart Town, Hardwar Gap, Mavis Bank, Portland Gap, San San, and Ecclesdown Road.
Ring-tailed Pigeon
Patagioenas caribaea
Endemic to Jamaica, where it inhabits humid forests, mainly in mountains and foothills, but also at lower elevations along the northern coast. It remains locally common, but has declined in much of its range due to illegal hunting.
Identification
A large clay-colored pigeon with a long, tricolored tail—which has a broad beige tip, a narrow blackish band in the middle, and a neutral gray base. Even when silhouetted at a distance, the outsized length of its tail is usually noticeable.
When seen clearly in good light, the back of the neck shines an iridescent turquoise-green, and the eye is vivid red.
When seen at a distance, incompletely, or in poor light, however, it often appears nondescript, with no obvious color pattern.
The other common pigeon on Jamaica, White-crowned, is distinctive in its own way (dark gray with a snow-white cap) and unlikely to be confused with the Ringtail.
Ring-tailed Pigeon—note extensive, pale undertail coverts. (Hardwar Gap, Jamaica; May 5, 2013.) © Garrett MacDonald
Ring-tailed Pigeon—note green iridescence on nape. (Silver Hill Gap, Jamaica; January 10, 2018.) © Charley Hesse TROPICAL BIRDING
Ring-tailed Pigeon—nondescript in this view. (Mockingbird Hill Hotel, San San, Jamaica; December 29, 2017.) © Jim Levenson
Ring-tailed Pigeon. (Silver Hill Gap, Jamaica; February 26, 2012.) © Kurt Hennige
Ring-tailed Pigeon—note vivid red eye. (Hardwar Gap, Jamaica; February 15, 2019.) © Lizabeth Southworth
Ring-tailed Pigeon—note vivid red eye. (Ecclesdown Road, Jamaica; January 29, 2016.) © Carla Bregman
Ring-tailed Pigeon. (Barbecue Bottom, Jamaica; February 2008.) © Jan van den Broeck
Cf. Plain Pigeon. The Ring-tailed Pigeon is most likely to be confused with the rare, little-known, endangered Jamaican subspecies of Plain Pigeon, which occurs together with the Ringtail in Cockpit Country, the John Crow Mountains, and possibly elsewhere. The two can appear similarly clay-colored overall at long range, but Plain has a shorter, mostly dark tail, reddish patches and a faint whitish bar on the wings, and a reddish blush on the neck and head.
Notes
Monotypic species.
IUCN Red List status: Vulnerable.
References
BirdLife International. 2016. Patagioenas caribaea. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016: e.T22690281A93268200. http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22690281A93268200.en. (Accessed October 9, 2017.)
eBird. 2019. eBird: An online database of bird distribution and abundance. Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, N.Y. http://www.ebird.org. (Accessed April 20, 2019.)
Gibbs, D., E. Barnes, and J. Cox. 2001. Pigeons and Doves: A Guide to the Pigeons and Doves of the World. Yale University Press, New Haven, Connecticut.
Haynes-Sutton, A., A. Downer, R. Sutton, and Y.-J. Rey-Millet. 2009. A Photographic Guide to the Birds of Jamaica. Princeton University Press, Princeton, N.J.
Raffaele, H., J. Wiley, O. Garrido, A. Keith, and J. Raffaele. 1998. A Guide to the Birds of the West Indies. Princeton University Press, Princeton, N.J.