Appearance
The ruddy pigeon is 28 cm long and weighs 170 g. It is unpatterned and mainly wine-purple in colour, becoming more rufous on the back. The tail and primary flight feathers are dark brown, the bill is black, and the legs are purple-red. The iris is typically red, but can, at least in the Amazon basin, sometimes be dull yellow. The female is slightly duller and browner than the male, and the juvenile bird has a greyish brown head, neck and breast, with cinnamon or rufous scaling on the head and upperparts.
Naming
Like the other New World pigeons, it was formerly united with their Old World relatives in ''Columba'', but today the New World genus ''Patagioenas'' is recognized as distinct again.
Distribution
In Central America it is found in highland forest canopy and semi-open woodland from 1500 m ASL to the timberline. In South America it occurs in the canopy of humid forest from near sea-level to 1500 m ASL, occasionally higher; exceptionally, they may range up to 3000 m ASL or more.
Status
It is not uncommon across its wide range and thus classified as a species of least concern by the IUCN.Behavior
It has a loud and fairly high-pitched ''coo, ko'COO coo'' call, with considerable pauses between calls just as in its relatives. There are some geographical variations in its voice, with some populations singing four-noted songs, while others sing three-noted songs.It is normally seen in pairs as it forages in the tree tops for fruits and berries—being particularly fond of mistletoe fruit – but may occasionally be seen on tracks and roadside seeking grit. It builds a rudimentary platform nest out of twigs 5 m high in a small tree, and lays one white egg.
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