Brown-backed pigeon

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Brown-backed pigeon
Brown-backed pigeon

Brown-backed pigeon

Systematics
Class : Birds (aves)
Order : Pigeon birds (Columbiformes)
Family : Pigeons (Columbidae)
Genre : Sounding pigeons ( Leptotila )
Type : Brown-backed pigeon
Scientific name
Leptotila battyi
Rothschild , 1901

The brown-backed pigeon ( Leptotila battyi ), also known as the Panama pigeon , is a species of pigeon birds. They exist exclusively in Central America. It is considered to be endangered in its existence.

Appearance

The brown-backed pigeon reaches a body length between 23.5 and 25.5 centimeters. The males have a blue-gray forehead that turns into a darker blue-gray at the top. The nape and the back of the neck have the same color of plumage. The coat is blue-gray. The wing covers as well as the back, the rump and the upper tail covers are reddish brown. The arms are of a darker olive brown.

The chin and throat are pale gray to white. The sides of the neck, face and chest are pale wine-colored to whitish. The belly is white, the flanks are reddish brown. The under tail-coverts are isabel to brown. The iris varies greatly from person to person and varies from straw yellow to greenish yellow. The featherless skin around the eye is red. The beak is black. The legs and feet are coral red.

The females are generally a little more dull in color. The young birds, on the other hand, are darker. The feathers on the head and chest still have cinnamon-colored hems. Their feet and legs are still dull red.

Distribution area and habitat

The distribution area of ​​the brown-backed pigeon is the Pacific west of Panama . It occurs here in the province of Veraguas and in the west of the province of Herrera . It also colonizes some islands off the coast.

The habitat of the brown-backed pigeon are the tropical rainforests of the lowlands and the foothills. Their populations are declining due to increasing deforestation in this region. It is also hunted intensively.

Way of life

The brown-backed pigeon is a ground-dwelling pigeon, but its habits have so far only been insufficiently investigated. It is a resident bird that lives very secretly. It rarely flies up and prefers to move on the ground. It is only exposed if it is startled. It lives singly or in pairs in the undergrowth of the woods or at the forest edges. Their diet has not yet been conclusively investigated. But it probably eats seeds and various insects. The breeding season probably falls between March and May, as young birds were repeatedly caught in May.

Subspecies

There are two known subspecies:

  • Leptotila battyi malae Griscom , 1927 - The subspecies occurs on the Pacific slopes of Panama and on the Cébaco Island .
  • Leptotila battyi battyi Rothschild , 1901 - The nominate form occurs on Coiba Island.

Etymology and history of research

Lionel Walter Rothschild described the brown-backed pigeon under its current name Leptotila battyi . The type specimen came from the island of Coiba . Already in 1837 William John Swainson introduced the new genus Leptotila for red ax pigeon ( Leptotila rufaxilla ( Richard & Bernard , 1792)). This name is derived from the Greek words "leptos λεπτος " for "slim, lean" and "ptilon πτιλον " for "feather". The species name is dedicated to the taxidermist , collector and naturalist Joseph H. Batty (1847–1906), who died in a tragic hunting accident in 1906 near Pijijiapan in the municipality of Pijijiapan . »Malae« was named after the place where it was found, the Cape Mala peninsula .

literature

  • David Gibbs, Eustace Barnes and John Cox: Pigeons and Doves - A Guide to the Pigeons and Doves of the World . Pica Press, Sussex 2001, ISBN 90-74345-26-3 .
  • Alois Münst and Josef Wolters: Tauben - The species of wild pigeons , 2nd expanded and revised edition, Verlag Karin Wolters, Bottrop 1999, ISBN 3-9801504-9-6 .
  • Gerhard Rösler: The wild pigeons of the earth - free living, keeping and breeding . M. & H. Schaper Verlag, Alfeld-Hannover 1996, ISBN 3-7944-0184-0 .
  • James A. Jobling: Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names . Christopher Helm, London 2010, ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4 .
  • Lionel Walter Rothschild: The Hon. Walter Rothschild sent the following description . In: Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club . tape 12 , no. 84 , 1901, pp. 33-34 ( biodiversitylibrary.org ).
  • William John Swainson: On the natural history and classification of birds . tape 2 . John Taylor, London 1837 ( biodiversitylibrary.org ).
  • Storrs Lovejoy Olson : Falsified Data Associated with Specimens of Birds, Mammals, and Insects from the Veragua Archipelago, Panama, Collected by JH Batty . In: American Museum novitates . No. 3620 , 2008, p. 1–36 ( digitallibrary.amnh.org [PDF; 982 kB ]).
  • Ludlow Griscom: Undescribed or little-known birds from Panama . In: American Museum novitates . No. 280 , 1927, pp. 1–36 ( digitallibrary.amnh.org [PDF; 1.9 MB ]).

Web links

Single receipts

  1. ↑ a b c Leptotila battyi in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016.1. Posted by: BirdLife International, 2016. Retrieved December 19, 2016.
  2. ↑ a b Gibbs, Barnes and Cox: Pigeons and Doves , p. 361.
  3. Jump up ↑ Gibbs, Barnes and Cox: Pigeons and Doves , p. 362.
  4. ^ IOC World Bird List Pigeons
  5. ↑ a b Ludlow Griscom, p. 4.
  6. ↑ a b Lionel Walter Rothschild, pp. 33–34.
  7. ^ William John Swainson, p. 349.
  8. ↑ James A. Jobling p. 222.
  9. ↑ Storrs Lovejoy Olson (2008).