The story When the first Dutch mariners landed on Mauritius, they were hungry after weeks at sea on meager rations. Naturally, they caught Dodos and ate them. Soon, however, they tired of the rather tough meat on these easily caught creatures and turned their attentions to smaller, tastier birds. Among those that they mentioned particularly […]
Category: Columbidae
Passenger Pigeon (Ectopistes migratorius)
The story The celebrated Passenger Pigeon has, perhaps, the most extraordinary story of any extinct bird. It may once have been the most numerous bird on Earth, and at the start of the nineteenth century vast flocks of this species blackened American skies. Yet during the course of 100 years the tremendous numbers dwindled until […]
Rodrigues Pigeon (Alectroenas rodericana)
The story This species is known from bones discovered on Rodrigues during the 1870’s and described by Alphonse Milne-Edwards, the celebrated expert on fossil birds at the Paris museum. Milne-Edwards described the species primarily on the evidence of a sternum, and chose to assign it to the genus Columba, whereas later researchers have shown an […]
Ryukyu Woodpigeon (Columba jouyi)
The story This species, closely related to the last, occurred on the Ryukyu and Daito Islands, another of the island groups to the south of Japan. It was last recorded on the Daito Islands during 1936. Although certainly extinct on Okinawa where it was last seen in 1904, the species may possibly cling to existence […]
Scaled Pigeon (Columba speciosa)
[order] COLUMBIFORMES | [family] Columbidae | [latin] Columba speciosa | [UK] Scaled Pigeon | [FR] Pigeon ramiret | [DE] Schuppenbauch-Taube | [ES] Paloma Escamosa | [NL] Geschubde Duif Subspecies Monotypic species Physical charateristics Large pigeon, the male has a purple or reddish head with black feathers with white spots and purple fringes in the neck. […]
Bolles Laurel Pigeon (Columba bollii)
[order] COLUMBIFORMES | [family] Columbidae | [latin] Columba bollii | [UK] Bolles Laurel Pigeon | [FR] Pigeon de Bolle | [DE] Bolles Lorbeertaube | [ES] Paloma turque | [NL] Bolles Laurierduif Subspecies Genus Species subspecies Breeding Range Breeding Range 2 Non Breeding Range Physical charateristics Large, dark brown and grey pigeon. Mainly dark sepia-brown, redder […]
Snow Pigeon (Columba leuconota)
[order] COLUMBIFORMES | [family] Columbidae | [latin] Columba leuconota | [UK] Snow Pigeon | [FR] Pigeon des neiges | [DE] Schneetaube | [ES] Paloma Nival | [NL] Sneeuwduif Subspecies Genus Species subspecies Breeding Range Breeding Range 2 Non Breeding Range Columba leuconota EU sc, se Columba leuconota gradaria e Tibet to se China and n […]
Common Ground-Dove (Columbina passerina)
[order] COLUMBIFORMES | [family] Columbidae | [latin] Columbina passerina | [UK] Common Ground-Dove | [FR] Colombe moineau | [DE] Sperlingstaubchen | [ES] Columbina Comun, Tortolita Comun (Cr), Turquita Comun (HN) | [NL] Musduif Subspecies Genus Species subspecies Breeding Range Breeding Range 2 Non Breeding Range Physical charateristics These tiny doves are generally brownish grey above […]
Spotted Dove (Spilopelia chinensis)
[order] COLUMBIFORMES | [family] Columbidae | [latin] Spilopelia chinensis | [UK] Spotted Dove | [FR] Tourterelle tigrine | [DE] Perlhalstaube | [ES] Tortola Moteada | [NL] Getijgerde Tortel Subspecies Genus Species subspecies Breeding Range Breeding Range 2 Non Breeding Range Spilopelia chinensis OR widespread Spilopelia chinensis chinensis Burma to c and e China, Taiwan Spilopelia […]
Rock Pigeon (Columba livia)
[order] COLUMBIFORMES | [family] Columbidae | [latin] Columba livia | [UK] Rock Pigeon | [FR] Pigeon biset | [DE] Felsentaube | [ES] Paloma Bravia | [NL] Rotsduif Subspecies Genus Species subspecies Breeding Range Breeding Range 2 Non Breeding Range Physical charateristics Rock Pigeons, more commonly known simply as just “pigeons,” are familiar birds in any […]