Tonga pigeon
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Tonga pigeon ( Ducula pacifica ) |
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| Ducula pacifica | ||||||||||
| ( Gmelin , 1789) |
The Tonga pigeon ( Ducula pacifica ) is a large species of pigeon birds that is one of the fruit pigeons . It occurs exclusively on small islands in the Pacific. There are two subspecies. The Tahitian fruit pigeon is also occasionally treated as a subspecies of the tonga fruit pigeon. The Caroline fruit pigeon and the Marquesas fruit pigeon , both of which are also found on Pacific islands, are closely related to the tonga pigeon.
The population of the tonga pigeon was classified in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species in 2016 as “ Least Concern (LC) ” = “not endangered”.
Appearance
The Tonga pigeon reaches a body length of about 36 to 43 centimeters. Males are generally larger than the females with a body length between 39 and 43 centimeters. The tail accounts for 11.3 to 13.9 centimeters. The weight is between 370 and 420 grams. There is no noticeable gender dimorphism . Females are a little more dull in color than males, the wine red on the belly is a little less pronounced than in males.
The black wax skin on the beak is noticeably enlarged in this pigeon species. The feathers at the base of the beak are creamy yellow and then turn into dark gray fletching on the forehead, crown and neck. The coat, the back, the upper tail-coverts, the wing coverts and the wings are dark olive green. The control feathers are darker and bluish than the dorsal plumage.
The chin is creamy yellow, the ear covers and throat, on the other hand, dark gray. The chest is wine-reddish, the belly is wine-red to rust-brown. The flanks and legs are dark gray, in some individuals also rusty brown. The under tail-coverts are maroon, the tail feathers are dark brown to blackish on the underside.
The eye ring is very narrow and gray in color. The iris is dark brown to red. The beak is black. The feet are bright orange-red.
Possible confusion
The gray fruit pigeon also occurs in the distribution area of the tonga pigeon . In this species, however, the enlarged wax skin is missing. Young birds of the tonga pigeon, in which the wax skin is not yet enlarged, can be distinguished from young birds of the gray fruit pigeon by the less conspicuous eye ring. The Peales fruit pigeon , which is also found on some islands on which the Tonga fruit pigeon is also found, also differs from this in the lack of an enlarged wax skin and is significantly larger. It also has pale yellow under tail-coverts.
Distribution area of the two subspecies
There are two subspecies:
- D. p. sejuncta - Amadon, 1943 : The subspecies occurs on Wuvulu , the Ninigo , Hermit and Kaniet Islands, and the Schouten Islands .
- D. p. pacifica - (JF Gmelin, 1789) : The nominate comes on the Louisiade Archipelago , a group of islands in the far southeast of Papua New Guinea, on the southern Solomon Islands, as well as Sikaiana south to the Santa Cruz Islands , in Vanuatu , on the Loyalty Islands , New Caledonia , Tuvalu , the Phoenix Islands , Tokelau , the smaller islands of the Fiji Group, the Wallis Islands Futuna , Samoa, Tonga, Niue and the Cook Islands .
The Tonga dove occurs mainly on small, flat islands. However, it is basically very adaptable and colonizes primary and secondary forest and also occurs on agricultural areas and overgrown plantations. On Vanuatu it still occurs at altitudes of 1000 meters.
Way of life
The Tonga pigeon occurs solitary or in pairs, but is generally more sociable than most other species of the genus large fruit pigeons . It is occasionally seen in flocks of more than 50 individuals.
Tonga pigeons are usually found in the treetops. However, during the dry season they also come to the ground to drink and forage. Tonga pigeons can be seen well on some of the islands in their range, as they often sit on free-standing branches. Where they are hunted, however, they are very shy and stay in the foliage of dense tree tops, where they can hardly be made out.
Tonga pigeons are exclusively fruit-eaters. The fruits with which they meet their nutritional needs are 3 to 30 millimeters in diameter. They eat wild figs and the fruits of ylang-ylang , nutmeg trees and rhus , among other things . They usually pick the fruit straight from the branches. Tonga pigeons move very skillfully in the branches and sometimes hang upside down from the branches while foraging in order to reach individual fruits. Tonga pigeons migrate far more in their area of distribution and also switch between individual islands. Gibbs and colleagues suggest that the pigeon's preference for small islands is related to the presence of birds of prey. In Fiji it occurs on 30 islands on which the Fiji Goshawk ( Accipiter rufitorques ) is missing, however, on any single island on which this Habichtart is represented.
The Tonga pigeon builds a nest that is comparatively large and stable for a pigeon. It is built from bare branches and a few leaves on a horizontal, leafy branch. The clutch usually consists of a single, white-shelled egg. Both parent birds breed and both are involved in raising the nestling.
hunt
Tonga pigeons were traditionally hunted. For this purpose, mounds of earth with an average diameter of 35 meters and a height of 4.5 meters were heaped on Tonga . At the top of the hill there were shelters for the hunters to hide. They had tamed pigeons with them, which they let out of their hiding places with thin threads on their feet. When wild pigeons joined the decoys, you pulled your own pigeons to the ground by the strings and the wild pigeons followed so that they could be caught with nets.
This form of hunting was an old tradition in the 19th century . There are 14 pigeon hunting hills on the Ha'apai Islands of Tonga, which, according to oral tradition, date from the middle of the 15th century. On the main island of American Samoa Tutuila to the north of Tonga , these hills are called tia seu lupe . So far, around 80 of them have been discovered that have a star shape here.
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 .
Web links
- Ducula pacification in the endangered Red List species the IUCN 2016 Posted by: BirdLife International, 2016. Accessed March 12, 2017th
- Call of the Tonga Dove on Xeno-Canto
- Image of a tia seu lupe in American Samoa
- The Pigeon-snaring Mounds Of Tonga
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c Handbook of the Birds of the World on the Tongafruchttaube , accessed on March 12, 2017
- ↑ Ducula pacification in the endangered Red List species the IUCN 2016 Posted by: BirdLife International, 2016. Accessed September 30, 2017th
- ↑ Gibbs, Barnes and Cox: Pigeons and Doves , p. 540.
- ↑ a b c d Gibbs, Barnes and Cox: Pigeons and Doves , p. 539.