Red beard fruit pigeon

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Red beard fruit pigeon
Red beard fruit pigeon, illustration by Charles Lucien Jules Laurent Bonaparte

Red beard fruit pigeon, illustration by Charles Lucien Jules Laurent Bonaparte

Systematics
Class : Birds (aves)
Order : Pigeon birds (Columbiformes)
Family : Pigeons (Columbidae)
Genre : Downy pigeons ( Ptilinopus )
Type : Red beard fruit pigeon
Scientific name
Ptilinopus mercierii
( Des Murs & Prévost , 1849)

The red-bearded fruit pigeon ( Ptilinopus mercierii ) is an extinct species of pigeon from the genus of the downy pigeons ( Ptilinopus ). It was found in two subspecies on the islands of Nuku Hiva and Hiva Oa in the Marquesas .

features

The red bearded fruit pigeon reached a body length of 22 cm. It was a brightly colored, relatively small, squat pigeon. The forehead, the crown of the head and the streak of beard were bright purple. The throat was yellowish. The throat, neck, and chest were silver gray with a greenish tinge. The underside was a bright golden yellow. The back and wings were lush green with a golden tint. The tail was dark green with a wide, whitish end band.

The subspecies Ptilinopus mercierii tristrami of Hiva Oa differed from the nominate form by a yellowish band that encompassed the red cap at the back of the head, by a lighter plumage and by a paler yellowish green tint. The light feather edges were narrower on the umbrella feathers and on the control feathers . The chest was tinted green and showed scattered light yellow feather edges. The lower abdomen was a lighter yellow. The under tail-coverts were yellowish white. The only known immature specimen was less yellowish on the top of the head and the back of the neck than the adult specimens.

Subspecies and their distribution

Two subspecies were distinguished:

Habitat and way of life

Habitat and way of life are only documented from the Hiva-Oa-Rotbart-Fruchttaube. It was arboreal. Their flight was described as faster and more agile than that of the white-capped fruit pigeon ( Ptilinopus dupetithouarsii ). Both pigeons taxa were occasionally seen looking for food together in the treetops. The diet consisted of fruits, seeds and tendrils. The red-bearded fruit pigeon inhabited mountain forests, generally at higher altitudes than the white-capped fruit pigeon. She was often seen at the head of ravines. The immature specimen was collected in November 1922, so that a breeding period is assumed in September or October.

die out

The IUCN lists both subspecies in the category "extinct" ( EX IUCN 3 1st svg, extinct). The nominate form of Nuku Hiva is only known from the holotype , which was collected during the expedition of the frigate Venus under the direction of Abel Aubert Dupetit-Thouars between the years 1836 and 1839 in the Mohana Valley on Nuku Hiva. It is possible that this subspecies was already very rare when it was discovered. During the Whitney South Sea Expedition between 1921 and 1923 no more specimens could be found. Search expeditions by David T. Holyoak and Jean-Claude Thibault in 1972 and 1975 also turned out to be failures. Little is known about the Nuku-Hiva redbeard pigeon. The importation of cats and rats into the Marquesas is believed to be the cause of extinction. The red beard fruit pigeon from Hiva Oa is also poorly documented. It was discovered by Andrew Garrett (1823-1887) and scientifically described by Tommaso Salvadori in 1892 . In the period that followed, a few more specimens of this subspecies were collected. The final record was in 1922, when 14 specimens were shot during the Whitney South Sea Expedition. On Hiva Oa, too, the pursuit of cats and rats is considered the main cause of extinction. The introduced Great Horned Owl ( Bubo virginianus ) may also have played a role in the extinction.

literature

  • Tommaso Salvadori : Catalog of Columbæ, or Pigeons in the Collection of the British Museum In: Catalog of the Birds of the British Museum, Vol. 21, 1893. pp. 110-111
  • Holyoak, DT & Thibault, JC: Contribution à l'étude des oiseaux de Polynésie orientale. Mem. Mus. Nat. Hist. Paris (Ser. A) Zool. 127, 1984: 1-209.
  • David Gibbs , Eustace Barnes and John Cox: Pigeons and Doves - A Guide to the Pigeons and Doves of the World . Pica Press, Sussex 2001, pp. 150-151. ISBN 90-74345-26-3 .
  • Julian Pender Hume , Michael Walters: Extinct Birds. A & C Black, London 2012. ISBN 140815725X : S. 158
  • Baptista, LF, Trail, PW & Horblit, HM (2016). Red-moustached Fruit-dove (Ptilinopus mercierii). In: del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., Sargatal, J., Christie, DA & de Juana, E. (eds.). Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. (Retrieved from http://www.hbw.com/node/54341 on September 30, 2016).

Web links

Commons : Ptilinopus mercierii  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Holyoak, DT & Thibault, JC: Contribution à l'étude des oiseaux de Polynésie orientale. Mem. Mus. Nat. Hist. Paris (Ser. A) Zool. 127, 1984: 1-209.
  2. ↑ Ripley, SD & Birckhead, H .: Birds collected during the Whitney South Sea Expedition. 51. On the fruit pigeons of the Ptilinopus purpuratus group. American Museum Novitates. 1192, 1942: 1-13.