TITLE:
Morphometrics and Body Condition Index of Eurasian Collared-Dove and Mourning Dove in Durango, Mexico
AUTHORS:
Manuel Armando Salazar-Borunda, José Hugo Martínez-Guerrero, Martín Emilio Pereda-Solís
KEYWORDS:
Morphometrics, Eurasian Collared-Dove, Streptopelia decaocto, Mourning Dove, Zenaida macroura
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Ecology,
Vol.5 No.2,
February
10,
2015
ABSTRACT: In order to incorporate the knowledge of two species of wild doves and
compare the results of both, we assessed morphometrics (body weight, bill,
tarsus, tail, wing, head and culmen length) and body condition index (using
weigh, wing, tail and tarsus length) of Eurasian Collared-Dove Streptopelia decaocto and Mourning Dove Zenaida macroura (Aves: Columbidae)
based on 40 specimens of each species collected during fall-winter 2013 and
spring-summer 2014 in the municipality of Durango, Durango, Mexico. We found
that body condition index was higher during fallwinter for both species. We
also found size dimorphism. Males of Eurasian Collared-Dove were larger than
females in head length (p = 0.002) and tail length (p = 0.05) but smaller in
culmen length. Female Mourning Doves had a higher body condition index compared
to males (p = 0.02) during both seasons. As expected, Eurasian Collared-Dove
was larger in all measurements than Mourning Dove (p > 0.05) but tail length
(p = 0.12).