The conspicuously long-tailed, small dove is encountered in urban areas of the Southwest near the Mexican border. Monotypic. Length 8.3".

A small gray dove with black fringes on the feathers of both the upper and underparts forming an obvious “scaled” appearance. In flight, shows chestnut on the upper and underside of the wing like common ground-dove; however, also shows prominent white edges on the long tail. Adult male: crown and face pale blue-gray and breast tinged lightly with pink; iris reddish; narrow eye ring blue-gray; bill blackish; and feet bright red. Adult female: similar, but duller on head and breast. Juvenile: duller with a slight brownish tinge overall, and “scaling” less noticeable.

Its long tail provides a very different shape from