It is a resident breeder throughout South America from Colombia to southern Argentina and Chile, and on the offshore islands from the Grenadines southwards.

The eared dove is common to abundant in savannahs and other open areas, including cultivation, and it readily adapts to human habitation, being seen on wires and telephone posts near towns in Trinidad and Venezuela, in almost all public spaces of large urban areas such as Bogotá, Colombia, and feeding near beach resorts in Tobago.

Its flight is high, fast, and direct, with the regular beats and an occasional sharp flick of the wings, which are characteristic of pigeons in general.

More than 23 million of these doves are thought to be in the fields around Córdoba in northern Argentina, and recent estimates put the figure in the 32-million range.

Thus, populations on the sporting estates of Argentina seem to be holding their own, with the birds breeding four times a year and thriving on the vast areas of grain, some grown for their benefit, most of it on commercial farms, which are happy to support the dove shooting.

[citation needed] The eared doves around Córdoba do not migrate, and the enormous flocks are described as flying constantly between their roosting woods and the open fields.

In the Córdoba region in Argentina, the eared doves are known as palomas doradas because of the shining feathers sometimes present in their plumage.