Earth dove
| Earth dove | ||||||||||
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Earth dove painted by John Gould |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||
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| Scientific name of the genus | ||||||||||
| Trugon | ||||||||||
| GR Gray , 1849 | ||||||||||
| Scientific name of the species | ||||||||||
| Trugon terrestris | ||||||||||
| GR Gray, 1849 |
The earth dove ( Trugon terrestris ), also called thick-billed earth dove or New Guinea earth dove , is a species of pigeon birds . It is the only representative of the genus of the thick-billed earth pigeons. It occurs in several subspecies only in a small area in Southeast Asia. However, the difference between the individual subspecies is only very slight, and some authors therefore doubt whether this division is justified.
Appearance
The earth dove reaches a body length of 32 to 36 centimeters. It corresponds to the size of a city pigeon. However, it is significantly shorter-tailed and long-legged. The beak is noticeably thick. It also has a short, rear-facing head of feathers on the neck. As a result, their physique looks like a pheasant overall. There is no gender dimorphism .
The forehead is light pink, while the top of the head and nape are dark blue-gray. The throat is light yellow and the ear spot is yellow-brown. A broad blue-gray stripe runs from the throat to the ear mark. Chest, neck, coat, back, rump and the top of the tail are dark gray, with the neck, chest and coat appearing a bit more bluish. The elytra are gray. The belly is creamy white. The beak is dark gray at the base and brightens horn-colored towards the tip. The dark circles are dark gray.
Soaring pigeons produce a whirring noise in flight. The instrumental sound is reminiscent of that of the partridges .
Distribution, habitat and behavior
The distribution area of the pigeon includes New Guinea and Salawati , a 1623 km² main island of the Raja Ampat archipelago off the coast of western New Guinea ( Indonesia ). The pigeon lives only in lowland forests and occurs in rain and monsoon forests. It is an outspoken ground dweller who also builds its nest on the ground. It uses a relatively large amount of nesting material for a pigeon. The clutch consists of only one egg.
Systematics
A closely related species is the great Solomon Islands pigeon ( Microgoura meeki ), which became extinct at the beginning of the 20th century. It probably shares a common ancestor with the pheasant dove .
literature
- Bruce M. Beehler , Thane K. Pratt: Birds of New Guinea; Distribution, Taxonomy, and Systematics . Princeton University Press, Princeton 2016, ISBN 978-0-691-16424-3 .
- 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 .
Web links
- Trugon terrestris inthe IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2011.1. Posted by: BirdLife International, 2009. Retrieved August 11, 2011 ..
- BirdLife International: Species Factsheet - Thick-billed Ground-pigeon ( Trugon terrestris ) . Retrieved August 11, 2011.
- Videos, photos and sound recordings of Thick-billed Ground-pigeon (Trugon terrestris) in the Internet Bird Collection
- Avibase Earth Dove (Trugon terrestris) pictures and further information
- Xeno-canto Thick-billed Ground-pigeon Trugon terrestris voice recordings