Makatea pigeon
| Makatea pigeon | ||||||||||
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| Systematics | ||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||
| Ptilinopus chalcurus | ||||||||||
| GR Gray , 1859 |
The Makatea pigeon ( Ptilinopus chalcurus ) is a species of pigeon birds that is one of the downy pigeons . It is a small, compact and predominantly green-feathered species that occurs in Polynesia.
The population of the Makatea pigeon is indicated as endangered ( vulnerable ). No subspecies are distinguished.
Appearance
The makatea pigeon reaches a body length of 23 centimeters, of which 8.3 to 9.8 centimeters are on the tail. The wing length is 12.8 to 14 centimeters. The beak is 1.1 to 1.3 inches long. The weight has not yet been recorded. There is very little gender dimorphism . The females are only slightly dull in color.
Adult macatea pigeons
The forehead, the reins and the crown are violet-pink, in some individuals the crown is edged with a diffuse yellow-brown towards the neck. The nape and throat are greenish gray. The mantle and the wing covers are dark olive green, the large wing covers have a slight metallic sheen and a narrow sulfur yellow edge. The wings are black with a dark green sheen, the outer flags and the feathers are lined with pale yellow. The back and rump are dark olive green, the tail plumage is glossy green. In particular, the middle control spring pair can shimmer bronze-green when the light falls. The outer pair of control springs also has a gray end band that is bordered on the outer flags in dark green and narrow yellow.
The chin and throat are creamy white and merge into ash gray ear covers and an ash gray front neck and chest. The feathers on the middle chest are split in two at the end, a yellowish-green band runs across the middle of the feathers. The belly is yellowish green and turns lemon yellow at the rump. The legs are olive green with broad lemon yellow feather edges. Half of the legs are covered with gray-green feathers. The under tail-coverts are lemon yellow. The iris is red, the beak is yellow to yellowish green. The feet and non-feathered legs are red to red-violet.
Fledglings
The young birds are still missing the purple-pink part. It's still dark green with them. The breast feathers are not split in two at the end and are lined with pale yellow.
Distribution area, habitat and endangerment
The Makatea pigeon is found exclusively on Makatea , a coral island in the north-west of the Tuamotu Archipelago belonging to French Polynesia . The island is located south of the Palliser Islands , its area is 24 km². The highest point is the Mont Puutiare at 110 meters in the north of the island. The Mont Aetia in the west, the second highest point, reaches 90 meters. Since phosphate mining stopped on the island, the population has fallen to less than 1,000.
The Makatea pigeon inhabits all tree-lined habitats on this island and can even be found in the villages. The pigeon was originally very numerous on this island, the population fell sharply due to deforestation in the context of phosphate mining. Since the end of this mining, the tree population on the island has increased again. The number of pigeons increases again. The pigeon is not hunted.
Way of life
Very little is known about the way of life of the Makatea pigeon. It is usually observed solitary or in pairs. Larger troops are only very rarely formed. It mainly eats fruits, wild figs and the fruits of ylang-ylang play a particularly important role. It can presumably brood in all calendar months, but the reproductive biology has so far hardly been researched.
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 .
- 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 .
- George Robert Gray: Catalog of the birds of the tropical islands of the Pacific Ocean, in the collection of the British Museum . Printed by order of the Trustees, London 1859 ( biodiversitylibrary.org ).