Ruffed Sandpigeon

The ruffed sandpigeon (Centrogioenas columba), also known as the sandpigeon or the scrubpigeon, is a species of pigeon native to the grasslands, scrublands, and deserts of North America and Central America, but can also adapt to life in the cities and suburbs. The sandpigeons are omnivores and mainly feed on cacti fruit, roots, tubers, bulbs, shrubs, insects, scorpions, small lizards, and, rarely, small mammals. The sandpigeons fill the similar ecological niche to sandgrouses of Eurasia and Africa (which are pigeon relatives and not grouses, despite their names) and are social animals and migrates to newer areas if the water sources in their old homes are either scarce or had dried up. The conservation status of sandpigeons is Least Concern due to successful conservation efforts, the sandpigeons' tolerance to human activities, and their resistance to otherwise deadly diseases and viruses, including West Nile viruses.