Brown dove

Taxonomy

The genus Phapitreron was introduced in 1854 by the French naturalist Charles Lucien Bonaparte for the white-eared brown dove (Phapitreron leucotis). The genus name Phapitreron combines the genus name Phaps introduced by the English naturalist Prideaux John Selby in 1835 for the bronze-wing pigeons with the Ancient Greek trērōn meaning "pigeon".

The genus contains four species:

• White-eared brown dove (Phapitreron leucotis)
• Amethyst brown dove (Phapitreron amethystinus)
• Tawitawi brown dove (Phapitreron cinereiceps)
• Mindanao brown dove (Phapitreron brunneiceps) – split from the Tawitawi brown dove

Some ornithologists have split two of the above species:

• Buff-eared brown-dove (Phapitreron nigrorum) – split from the white-eared brown dove
• Short-billed brown-dove (Phapitreron brevirostris) – split from the white-eared brown dove
• Cebu brown-dove (Phapitreron frontalis) – split from the amethyst brown dove; listed as an EDGE species by the Zoological Society of London and Critically Endangered by the IUCN.
• Grey-breasted brown-dove (Phapitreron maculipectus) – split from the amethyst brown dove