Black-billed olive pigeon
| Black-billed olive pigeon | ||||||||||
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Black-billed olive pigeon, Sikkim, India |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||
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| Columba hodgonsii | ||||||||||
| Vigors , 1832 |
The black- billed olive pigeon ( Columba hodgonsii ) is a medium-sized and strongly built species of pigeon birds that occurs in Asia and predominantly colonizes regions in the Himalayas. The IUCN classifies the black-billed olive pigeon as a least concern species. No subspecies are distinguished.
Appearance
Body dimensions and feathered body parts
The black-billed olive pigeon reaches a body length of 35 to 38.8 centimeters and is thus slightly larger than a wood pigeon . The tail plumage accounts for 12.6 to 14 centimeters, which means that compared to the body length, ee is slightly longer than that of the wood pigeon. The wing length is 23.2 to 23.9 centimeters. The beak is 1.2 to 1.8 inches long. Weight data are not recorded in the specialist literature.
The beak is black with a dark red-brown base. The iris is white-gray, the orbital ring is gray. The feet and legs are blackish with yellow nails.
Adult birds
Males have a silver-gray head, the stiffened feathers on the sides of the neck are black with silver-gray tips. The mantle is maroon, with some of the feathers near the neck having gray spots on the outer plumes. The large elytra are blue-gray with white feather edges, which can be differently pronounced. The small wing-coverts are dark red-brown with white spots on the outer flags. The flight feathers are black-brown.
The back and rump are slate gray and merge into a dark gray upper tail cover. The tail plumage is black.
The throat is blue-gray, the breast has the same basic color, but is overlaid with a mauve color, the basal halves of the individual feathers are dark red-brown. The belly is dark red-brown with narrow, rather inconspicuous gray borders along the inner and outer harbor. The under tail-coverts are dark gray.
Females resemble the males, the mantle and the small wing-coverts, which are red-brown in the male, but are dark slate-gray in them. Their belly is earth-brown.
Fledglings
Fledglings are similar to females, but their heads are more brownish. The white spots on the wing covers are largely absent, only the outer plumes of the individual feathers are narrowly lined with white. The throat is whitish gray. The underside of the body is earth-brown with gray to gray-white feather edges.
Possible confusion
In the distribution area of the black-billed olive pigeon there are several other pigeon species with which it can be confused. City pigeons are rare in the distribution area and habitat of the black-billed olive pigeon, but there are color varieties that can resemble this wild pigeon species. Basically, city pigeons are smaller, have a shorter tail, a more compact build, and reddish legs and feet. The Himalayan pigeon has dark body plumage and a light head. The spots on the wing covers are also missing. The Himalayan pigeon also has red feet and legs, the tip of the beak is also lightened in this species. The copper pigeon is also a dark feathered pigeon, but has a gray cap that contrasts with the rest of the plumage. The underside of the body is cinnamon colored; the gray throat that is characteristic of the black-billed olive pigeon is missing. It is also rarely found above an altitude of 800 meters. The mountain fruit pigeon, on the other hand, is significantly larger than the black-billed olive pigeon and has a light-colored head and belly as well as light-colored under-tail coverts.
Distribution area and habitat
The distribution area of the black-billed olive pigeon extends over the Himalayas . The eastern limit of distribution is in Kashmir and continues through Nepal and Burma . In China, the distribution area extends to the south of Gansu , the west of Sichuan and Yunnan . The species is also found in Myanmar . In the winter months, black-billed olive pigeons are also found in the northwest of Thailand and in the northwest of Laos . It is not a common pigeon species in the entire distribution area.
The habitat are dense mountain forests of the temperate, subtropical and tropical climatic zones at altitudes between 1400 and 4000 meters. Black-billed olive pigeons are occasionally found on agricultural land where they forage for grain. However, they rarely stray far from the forest areas.
Way of life
The way of life of the black-billed olive pigeon has so far been little researched. It finds its food mainly in the treetops, where it picks small fruits and acorns directly from the branches. Occasionally, however, she visits stubble fields to look for grains. It is a resident bird in most of its range, but it occasionally migrates to the north of Thailand. The breeding season begins in February. Their nest is a pigeon-typical platform made of branches that is erected on a horizontal branch at a height of three to eight meters. The clutch consists of a single egg. The breeding and nestling times are not yet known.
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 - Die Arten der Wildtauben , 2nd expanded and revised edition, 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, Alfeld, Hannover 1996, ISBN 3-7944-0184-0 .
