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 […]
Category: Columbiformes
Rodrigues Solitaire (Pezophaps solitaria)
The story The island of Rodrigues, far out in the Indian Ocean, is one of the Mascarene group and here a dodo-like species evolved from an ancestral pigeon stock. This species has become known as the Rodrigues Solitaire. The Huguenot refugee Francois Leguat, whose name occurs so regularly in the stories of extinct birds, took […]
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 […]
Tanna Ground-dove (Gallicolumba ferruginea)
The story The Tanna Ground-dove is known today from just a single, rather crude, painting by Georg Forster that was produced during Captain Cook’s second voyage around the world. This painting is in the Forster portfolio at the Natural History Museum, London, and in the margin the following words are inscribed: Tanna, female, 17th August […]
Bonin Woodpigeon (Columba versicolor)
The story The avifaunas of several islands to the south of Japan have been badly depleted, and one of these island groups, the Bonins (Ogasawara), has lost several distinct forms. One of these was the Bonin Pigeon, a large, dark bird that was discovered in 1827 during the exploratory voyage of HMS Blossom. It seems […]
Plain-breasted Ground-Dove (Columbina minuta)
[order] COLUMBIFORMES | [family] Columbidae | [latin] Columbina minuta | [UK] Plain-breasted Ground-Dove | [FR] Colombe pygmee | [DE] Zwergtaubchen | [ES] Palomita Enana (Arg), Columbina Menuda, Tortolita Menuda (Cr), Turquita Chica (HN) | [NL] Dwergduif Subspecies Genus Species subspecies Breeding Range Breeding Range 2 Non Breeding Range Physical charateristics The forehead is pale pinkish-grey. […]
Oriental Turtle Dove (Streptopelia orientalis)
[order] COLUMBIFORMES | [family] Columbidae | [latin] Streptopelia orientalis | [UK] Oriental Turtle Dove | [FR] Tourterelle orientale | [DE] Orient-Turteltaube | [ES] Tortola Oriental | [NL] Oosterse Tortel Subspecies Genus Species subspecies Breeding Range Breeding Range 2 Non Breeding Range Streptopelia orientalis EU, OR c, e Asia through India and Southeast Asia Streptopelia orientalis […]
Plumbeous Pigeon (Patagioenas plumbea)
[order] COLUMBIFORMES | [family] Columbidae | [latin] Patagioenas plumbea | [UK] Plumbeous Pigeon | [FR] Pigeon plombe | [DE] Weintaube | [ES] Paloma Plomiza | [NL] Loodgrijze Duif Subspecies Genus Species subspecies Breeding Range Breeding Range 2 Non Breeding Range Patagioenas plumbea SA Colombia to se Brazil Patagioenas plumbea baeri c Brazil Patagioenas plumbea bogotensis […]
Red-billed Pigeon (Patagioenas flavirostris)
[order] COLUMBIFORMES | [family] Columbidae | [latin] Patagioenas flavirostris | [UK] Red-billed Pigeon | [FR] Pigeon a bec rouge | [DE] Rotschnabel-Taube | [ES] Paloma Piquirroja | [NL] Roodsnavelduif Subspecies Genus Species subspecies Breeding Range Breeding Range 2 Non Breeding Range Patagioenas flavirostris MA widespread Patagioenas flavirostris flavirostris s Texas (USA) to e Costa Rica […]
Ruddy Ground-Dove (Columbina talpacoti)
[order] COLUMBIFORMES | [family] Columbidae | [latin] Columbina talpacoti | [UK] Ruddy Ground-Dove | [FR] Colombe talpacoti | [DE] Rosttaubchen | [ES] Palomita Colorada (Arg,Bo), Tortolita Rojiza (Cr), Turquita Rojiza (HN) | [NL] Steenduif Subspecies Genus Species subspecies Breeding Range Breeding Range 2 Non Breeding Range Physical charateristics Ruddy Ground Doves are small short-tailed pigeons, […]