The genome for this pretty bird, native to Cuba, has just been sequenced, helping to answer some questions about its place in the web of life. Pigeons and doves are fantastically widespread, not least because they can be very strong flyers. They appear throughout the world, almost everywhere but the Arctic and Antarctica. It was thought that this species was related to other doves in the Caribbean region, and other evidence suggested it might be related to Australasian birds.

The new genomic data says neither, that the blue-headed quail dove is an ancient lineage (older than chimpanzees), as distinct as the dodo – and at risk of the same fate. It hasn’t been well studied in part because there are few mature individuals left, and trends in hunting, predators, and habitat loss bode ill for the remaining birds.

More about this research is available at the Florida Museum of Natural History, where the lead author undertook this work as a postdoctoral researcher, and in the published study. eBird, where this lovely photo (by Zsombor Károlyi) was posted, also has an example of its call, at https://ebird.org/species/bhqdov1. More photos at: https://media.ebird.org/catalog?taxonCode=bhqdov1&mediaType=photo