Columbidae (/kəˈlʌmbɪdiː/kə-LUM-bih-dee) is a bird family consisting of doves and pigeons. It is the only family in the orderColumbiformes. These are stout-bodied birds with short necks and short slender bills that in some species feature fleshy ceres. They primarily feed on plants, and can be taxonomically divided amongst granivores, that feed mostly on the ground on seeds, and frugivores, that feed mostly on fruits, from branches. The family occurs worldwide, often in close proximity with humans, but the greatest variety is in the Indomalayan and Australasian realms.
Columbidae contains 344 species divided into 50 genera. Fifty-nine species are listed as threatened, and thirteen are extinct,[2] including the dodo, an island bird, and the passenger pigeon, the only bird species not restricted to a small island to go extinct in modern times, even though its flocks were counted in the billions.
In colloquial English, the smaller species tend to be called "doves", and the larger ones "pigeons",[3] although the distinction is not consistent,[3] and there is no scientific separation between them.[4] Historically, the common names for these birds involve a great deal of variation. The bird most commonly referred to as "pigeon" is the domestic pigeon, or rock dove, which is common in many cities as the feral pigeon.
Doves and pigeons build relatively flimsy nests, often using sticks and other debris, which may be placed on branches of trees, on ledges, or on the ground, depending on species. They lay one or (usually) two white eggs at a time, and both parents care for the young. Unlike most birds, both sexes of doves and pigeons produce "crop milk" to feed to their young, secreted by a sloughing of fluid-filled cells from the lining of the crop.
Unfledged baby doves and pigeons are called squabs and are generally able to fly by 5 weeks of age. These fledglings, with their immature squeaking voices, are called squeakers once they are weaned,[5] and leave the nest after 25–32 days.
Since ancient times, many Columbidae species have developed intricate cultural and practical relations with humans. Doves were important symbols of the goddesses Innana, Asherah, and Aphrodite, and revered by the early Christian, Islamic and Jewish religions. Domestication of pigeons led to significant use of homing pigeons for communication, including war pigeons, such as the 32 pigeons who were awarded the Dickin Medal for "brave service" to their country, in World War II.
Etymology
Pigeon is a French word that derives from the Latinpīpiō, for a 'peeping' chick,[6] while dove is an ultimately Germanic word, possibly referring to the bird's diving flight.[7] The English dialectal word culver appears to derive from Latin columba.[6] A group of doves is called a "dule", taken from the French word deuil ('mourning').[8]
The name 'Columbidae' for the family was introduced by the English zoologist William Elford Leach in a guide to the contents of the British Museum published in 1819.[13][14] Columbidae is the only living family in the order Columbiformes. The sandgrouse (Pteroclidae) were formerly placed here, but were moved to a separate order, Pterocliformes, based on anatomical differences (such as the inability to drink by "sucking" or "pumping").[15]
The Columbidae are usually divided into five subfamilies, probably inaccurately.[16] For example, the American ground and quail doves (Geotrygon), which are usually placed in the Columbinae, seem to be two distinct subfamilies.[lower-alpha 1] The order presented here follows Baptista etal. (1997),[17] with some updates.[18][19][20]
The arrangement of genera and naming of subfamilies is in some cases provisional because analyses of different DNA sequences yield results that differ, often radically, in the placement of certain (mainly Indo-Australian) genera.[citation needed] This ambiguity, probably caused by long branch attraction, seems to confirm the first pigeons evolved in the Australasian region, and that the "Treronidae" and allied forms (crowned and pheasant pigeons, for example) represent the earliest radiation of the group.[citation needed]
The family Columbidae previously also contained the family Raphidae, consisting of the extinct Rodrigues solitaire and the dodo.[20][21][22] These species are in all likelihood part of the Indo-Australian radiation that produced the three small subfamilies mentioned above,[23] with the fruit doves and pigeons (including the Nicobar pigeon). Therefore, they are here included as a subfamily Raphinae, pending better material evidence of their exact relationships.[24]
These taxonomic issues are exacerbated by columbids not being well represented in the fossil record,[25] with no truly primitive forms having been found to date.[citation needed] The genus Gerandia has been described from Early Miocene deposits in France, but while it was long believed to be a pigeon,[26] it is now considered a sandgrouse.[27] Fragmentary remains of a probably "ptilinopine" Early Miocene pigeon were found in the Bannockburn Formation of New Zealand and described as Rupephaps;[27]"Columbina" prattae from roughly contemporary deposits of Florida is nowadays tentatively separated in Arenicolumba, but its distinction from Columbina/Scardafella and related genera needs to be more firmly established (e.g. by cladistic analysis).[28] Apart from that, all other fossils belong to extant genera.[29]
Pigeons and doves exhibit considerable variation in size, ranging in length from 15 to 75 centimetres (5.9 to 29.5in), and in weight from 30g (0.066lb) to above 2,000g (4.4lb).[30] The largest species is the crowned pigeon of New Guinea,[31] which is nearly turkey-sized, at a weight of 2–4kg (4.4–8.8lb).[32] The smallest is the common ground dove (Columbina passerina) of the genus Columbina, which is the same size as a house sparrow, weighing as little as 22g (0.049lb).[17] The dwarf fruit dove, which may measure as little as 13cm (5.1in), has a marginally smaller total length than any other species from this family.[17] One of the largest arboreal species, the Marquesan imperial pigeon, currently battles extinction.[33]
Anatomy and physiology
Overall, the anatomy of Columbidae is characterized by short legs, short bills with a fleshy cere, and small heads on large, compact bodies.[34] Like some other birds, the Columbidae have no gall bladders.[35] Some medieval naturalists concluded they have no bile (gall), which in the medieval theory of the four humours explained the allegedly sweet disposition of doves.[36] In fact, however, they do have bile (as Aristotle had earlier realized), which is secreted directly into the gut.[37]
The wings are large, and have eleven primary feathers;[38] pigeons have strong wing muscles (wing muscles comprise 31–44% of their body weight[39]) and are among the strongest fliers of all birds.[38]
In a series of experiments in 1975 by Dr.Mark B. Friedman, using doves, their characteristic head bobbing was shown to be due to their natural desire to keep their vision constant.[40] It was shown yet again in a 1978 experiment by Dr.Barrie J. Frost, in which pigeons were placed on treadmills; it was observed that they did not bob their heads, as their surroundings were constant.[41]
Columbidae have unique body feathers, with the shaft being generally broad, strong, and flattened, tapering to a fine point, abruptly.[38] In general, the aftershaft is absent; however, small ones on some tail and wing feathers may be present.[42] Body feathers have very dense, fluffy bases, are attached loosely into the skin, and drop out easily.[43] Possibly serving as a predator avoidance mechanism,[44] large numbers of feathers fall out in the attacker's mouth if the bird is snatched, facilitating the bird's escape. The plumage of the family is variable.[45]
Granivorous species tend to have dull plumage, with a few exceptions, whereas the frugivorous species have brightly coloured plumage.[17] The Ptilinopus (fruit doves) are some of the brightest coloured pigeons, with the three endemic species of Fiji and the Indian OceanAlectroenas being the brightest. Pigeons and doves may be sexually monochromatic or dichromatic.[46] In addition to bright colours, pigeons may sport crests or other ornamentation.[47]
Flight
Animation of flying pigeons
Columbidae are excellent fliers due to the lift provided by their large wings, which results in low wing loading;[48] They are highly maneuverable in flight[49] and have a low aspect ratio due to the width of their wings, allowing for quick flight launches and ability to escape from predators, but at a high energy cost.[50]
The zebra dove (Geopelia striata) has been widely introduced around the world.Pigeons sitting next to an epymonous 'Birds Lane' street sign in an urban environment in Box Hill, Victoria, Australia.
Pigeons and doves are distributed everywhere on Earth, except for the driest areas of the Sahara Desert, Antarctica and its surrounding islands, and the high Arctic.[30] They have colonized most of the world's oceanic islands, reaching eastern Polynesia and the Chatham Islands in the Pacific, Mauritius, the Seychelles and Réunion in the Indian Ocean, and the Azores in the Atlantic Ocean.
Some species have large natural ranges. The eared dove ranges across the entirety of South America from Colombia to Tierra del Fuego,[52] the Eurasian collared dove has a massive (if discontinuous) distribution from Britain across Europe, the Middle East, India, Pakistan and China,[53] and the laughing dove across most of sub-Saharan Africa, as well as India, Pakistan, and the Middle East.[54]
The largest range of any species is that of the rock dove, also known as the common pigeon.[55] This species had a large natural distribution from Britain and Ireland to northern Africa, across Europe, Arabia, Central Asia, India, the Himalayas and up into China and Mongolia.[55] The range of the species increased dramatically upon domestication, as the species went feral in cities around the world.[55] The common pigeon is currently resident across most of North America, and has established itself in cities and urban areas in South America, sub-Saharan Africa, Southeast Asia, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand.[55]
As well as the rock dove, several other species of pigeon have become established outside of their natural range after escaping captivity, and other species have increased their natural ranges due to habitat changes caused by human activity.[17] A 2020 study found that the East Coast of the U.S. includes two pigeon genetic megacities, in New York and Boston, and observes that the birds do not mix together.[56]
Seeds and fruit form the major component of the diets of pigeons and doves, and [30][62] the family can be divided between the seed-eating, or granivorous, species (subfamily Columbinae) and the fruit-and-mast-eating, or frugivorous, species, which make up the other four subfamilies.[63]
The granivorous species typically feed on seed found on the ground, whereas the frugivorous species tend to feed in trees.[63] The morphological adaptations used to distinguish between the two groups include granivores tending to having thick walls in their gizzards, intestines, and esophagi, with the frugivores evolved with thin walls,[30] and the fruit-eating species have short intestines, as opposed to the seed eaters having longer intestines.[64] Frugivores are capable of clinging to branches and even hang upside down to reach fruit.[17][63]
In addition to fruit and seeds, a number of other food items are taken by many species. Some, particularly the ground doves and quail-doves, eat a large number of prey items such as insects and worms.[63] One species, the atoll fruit dove, is specialised in taking insect and reptile prey.[63] Snails, moths, and other insects are taken by white-crowned pigeons, orange fruit doves, and ruddy ground doves.[17]
Urban feral pigeons, descendants of domestic rock doves (Columbia Livia), reside in urban environments, disturbing their natural feeding habits. They depend on human activities and interactions to obtain food, causing them to forage for spilled food or food provided by humans.[65]
While many species of pigeons and doves have benefited from human activities and have increased their ranges, many other species have declined in numbers and some have become threatened or even succumbed to extinction.[66] Among the ten species to have become extinct since 1600 (the conventional date for estimating modern extinctions) are two of the most famous extinct species, the dodo and the passenger pigeon.[66]
The passenger pigeon was exceptional for a number of reasons. In modern times, it is the only pigeon species that was not an island species to have become extinct[66] even though it was once the most numerous species of bird on Earth.[citation needed] Its former numbers are difficult to estimate, but one ornithologist, Alexander Wilson, estimated one flock he observed contained over two billion birds.[67] The decline of the species was abrupt; in 1871, a breeding colony was estimated to contain over a hundred million birds, yet the last individual in the species was dead by 1914.[68] Although habitat loss was a contributing factor, the species is thought to have been massively over-hunted, being used as food for slaves and, later, the poor, in the United States throughout the 19thcentury.[citation needed]
The dodo, and its extinction, was more typical of the extinctions of pigeons in the past. Like many species that colonise remote islands with few predators, it lost much of its predator avoidance behaviour, along with its ability to fly.[69] The arrival of people, along with a suite of other introduced species such as rats, pigs, and cats, quickly spelled the end for this species and all the other island forms that have become extinct.[69]
Around 59 species of pigeons and doves are threatened with extinction today, about 19% of all species.[70] Most of these are tropical and live on islands. All of the species are threatened by introduced predators, habitat loss, hunting, or a combination of these factors.[69] In some cases, they may be extinct in the wild, as is the Socorro dove of Socorro Island, Mexico, last seen in the wild in 1972, driven to extinction by habitat loss and introduced feral cats.[71] In some areas, a lack of knowledge means the true status of a species is unknown; the Negros fruit dove has not been seen since 1953,[72] and may or may not be extinct, and the Polynesian ground dove is classified as critically endangered, as whether it survives or not on remote islands in the far west of the Pacific Ocean is unknown.[73]
Various conservation techniques are employed to prevent these extinctions, including laws and regulations to control hunting pressure, the establishment of protected areas to prevent further habitat loss, the establishment of captive populations for reintroduction back into the wild (ex situ conservation), and the translocation of individuals to suitable habitats to create additional populations.[69][74]
The pigeon was used in both World War I and World War II, notably by the Australian, French, German, American, and UK forces. They were also awarded for their service with various laurels throughout. On 2 December 1943, three pigeons–Winkie, Tyke, and White Vision,– serving with Britain's Royal Air Force, were awarded the first Dickin medal for rescuing an air force crew during World WarII.[75] Thirty-two pigeons have been decorated with the Dickin Medal, citing their "brave service"[76] in war contributions, including Commando, G.I. Joe,[77]Paddy, Royal Blue, and William of Orange.[citation needed]
A grand ceremony was held in Buckingham Palace to commemorate a platoon of pigeons that braved the battlefields of Normandy to deliver vital plans to Allied forces on the fringes of Germany.[80] Three of the actual birds that received the medals are on show in the London Military Museum[clarification needed] so that well-wishers can pay their respects.[80] In Brussels, there is a monument commemorating pigeons that served in World War I, the Monument au Pigeon-Soldat[fr].
Domestication
Emperor Honorius is a historically prominent individual who kept pigeons as pets.
The rock dove has been domesticated for hundreds of years.[81] It has been bred into several varieties kept by hobbyists, of which the best known is the homing pigeon or racing homer.[81] Other popular breeds are tumbling pigeons such as the Birmingham roller, and fancy varieties that are bred for certain physical characteristics such as large feathers on the feet or fan-shaped tails. Domesticated rock pigeons are also bred as carrier pigeons,[47] used for thousands of years to carry brief written messages,[82] and release doves used in ceremonies.[83] White doves are also used for entertainment and amusement, as they are capable of solving puzzles and performing intricate tricks.[84] A variant called the zurito, bred for its speed, may be used in live pigeon shooting.[85][86]
In religion
Early fifth-century BC statue of Aphrodite from Cyprus, showing her wearing a cylinder crown and holding a dove
In ancient Mesopotamia, doves were prominent animal symbols of Inanna-Ishtar, the goddess of love, sexuality, and war.[87][88] Doves are shown on cultic objects associated with Inanna as early as the beginning of the third millennium BC.[87] Lead dove figurines were discovered in the temple of Ishtar at Aššur, dating to the thirteenth century BC,[87] and a painted fresco from Mari, Syria, shows a giant dove emerging from a palm tree in the temple of Ishtar,[88] indicating that the goddess herself was sometimes believed to take the form of a dove.[88] In the Epic of Gilgamesh, Utnapishtim releases a dove and a raven to find land; the dove merely circles and returns.[89] Only then does Utnapishtim send forth the raven, which does not return, and Utnapishtim concludes the raven has found land.[89]
In the ancient Levant, doves were used as symbols for the Canaanite mother goddess Asherah.[87][88][90] The ancient Greek word for "dove" was peristerá,[87][88] which may be derived from the Semitic phrase peraḥ Ištar, meaning "bird of Ishtar".[87] In classical antiquity, doves were sacred to the Greek goddess Aphrodite,[91][92][87][88] who absorbed this association with doves from Inanna-Ishtar.[88] Aphrodite frequently appears with doves in ancient Greek pottery.[91] The temple of Aphrodite Pandemos on the southwest slope of the Athenian Acropolis was decorated with relief sculptures of doves with knotted fillets in their beaks[91] and votive offerings of small, white, marble doves were discovered in the temple of Aphrodite at Daphni.[91] During Aphrodite's main festival, the Aphrodisia, her altars would be purified with the blood of a sacrificed dove.[93] Aphrodite's associations with doves influenced the Roman goddesses Venus and Fortuna, causing them to become associated with doves as well.[90]
In the Hebrew Bible, doves or young pigeons are acceptable burnt offerings for those who cannot afford a more expensive animal.[94] In Genesis, Noah sends a dove out of the ark, but it came back to him because the floodwaters had not receded. Seven days later, he sent it again and it came back with an olive branch in her mouth, indicating the waters had receded enough for an olive tree to grow. "Dove" is also a term of endearment in the Song of Songs and elsewhere. In Hebrew, Jonah (יוֹנָה) means dove.[95] The "sign of Jonas" in Matthew 16 is related to the "sign of the dove".[96]
In Islam, doves and the pigeon family in general are respected and favoured because they are believed to have assisted the final prophet of Islam, Muhammad, in distracting his enemies outside the cave of Thaw'r, in the great Hijra.[97] A pair of pigeons had built a nest and laid eggs at once, and a spider had woven cobwebs, which in the darkness of the night made the fugitives believe that Muhammad could not be in that cave.[97]
Several species of pigeons and doves are used as food; however, all types are edible.[98] Domesticated or hunted pigeons have been used as the source of food since the times of the Ancient Middle East, Ancient Rome, and Medieval Europe.[76] It is familiar meat within Jewish, Arab, and French cuisines. According to the Tanakh, doves are kosher, and they are the only birds that may be used for a korban. Other kosher birds may be eaten, but not brought as a korban. Pigeon is also used in Asian cuisines, such as Chinese, Assamese, and Indonesian cuisines.
In Europe, the wood pigeon is commonly shot as a game bird,[99] while rock pigeons were originally domesticated as a food species, and many breeds were developed for their meat-bearing qualities.[51] The extinction of the passenger pigeon in North America was at least partly due to shooting for use as food.[100]Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management contains recipes for roast pigeon and pigeon pie, a popular, inexpensive food in Victorian industrial Britain.[101]
List of monuments depicting pigeons
There are many public monuments around the world devoted to and depicting pigeons.
The plaque on this conservationist statue's inscription reads: "DEDICATED TO THE LAST PASSENGER PIGEON Shot at Babcock, Sept. 1899. This Species Became Extinct Through the Avarice and Thoughtlessness of Man."[102] It honors the passenger pigeon, which had once perhaps been the most numerous bird on the planet before going extinct in 1914, largely due to unregulated hunting and habitat destruction committed by European settlers of North America.[103]
This metal statue, designed by Georges Hano and sculpted by Victor Voets, honors the war pigeons who died in World War I.[104] Then-Brussels Mayor Adolphe Max[105] at the 1931 dedication ceremony of this statute said that carrier pigeons perhaps made the greatest and most painful contribution to the victory and liberation of Belgium during the First World War. The metal statue depicts a pigeon landing on a topless woman's outstretched arm.
This stone monument depicts a woman flocked by birds, erected in honor of the approximately tens of thousands of birds who served as carrier pigeons or otherwise served the Triple Entente during World War I. The statue is in front of the Lille Zoo. It was erected by the édération Nationale des Sociétés Colombophiles (National Federation of Pigeon Societies).[107]
This is one of multiple statues dedicated to the beloved Japanese children's song, "Hato Poppo". The words of the song were written by Kume Higashi while watching children play with pigeons at the Buddhist Sensō-ji temple in Tokyo, near where this statue now is. A plaque on the monument includes the musical notation of the song. Atop the monument, five bronze pigeons are perched.[108]
A memorial specifically to Martha, the last known passenger pigeon who died at the Cincinnati Zoo in 1914, is housed in a Japanese pagoda-style building on zoo's grounds. Inside the building is artwork depicting the passenger pigeon. A bronze Martha is outside the memorial.[111]
↑ Conventional treatment saw two large subfamilies: one for the fruit doves, imperial pigeons, and fruit pigeons, and another for nearly all of the remaining species. Additionally, three monotypic subfamilies were noted, one each for the genera Goura, Otidiphaps, and Didunculus. The old subfamily Columbinae consisted of five distinct lineages, whereas the other four groups are more or less accurate representations of the evolutionary relationships.
Related Research Articles
The dodo is an extinct flightless bird that was endemic to the island of Mauritius, which is east of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean. The dodo's closest relative was the also-extinct and flightless Rodrigues solitaire. The two formed the subfamily Raphinae, a clade of extinct flightless birds that were a part of the family which includes pigeons and doves. The closest living relative of the dodo is the Nicobar pigeon. A white dodo was once thought to have existed on the nearby island of Réunion, but it is now believed that this assumption was merely confusion based on the also-extinct Réunion ibis and paintings of white dodos.
The Rodrigues solitaire is an extinct flightless bird that was endemic to the island of Rodrigues, east of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean. Genetically within the family of pigeons and doves, it was most closely related to the also extinct dodo of the nearby island Mauritius, the two forming the subfamily Raphinae. The Nicobar pigeon is their closest living genetic relative.
The bird genus Columba comprises a genus of medium to large pigeons. The terms "dove" and "pigeon" are used indiscriminately for smaller and larger Columbidae, respectively. Columba species are mostly termed "pigeons", and in many cases "wood pigeons", but some, are termed "doves". The rock dove has given rise to the majority of domesticated pigeon breeds, such as the racing pigeon and the fantail pigeon, some of which have become feral. Meanwhile, "wood pigeon" by itself usually means the common wood pigeon.
The Nicobar pigeon or Nicobar dove is a bird found on small islands and in coastal regions from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India, east through the Indonesian Archipelago, to the Solomons and Palau. It is the only living member of the genus Caloenas alongside the extinct spotted green pigeon and Kanaka pigeon, and is the closest living relative of the extinct dodo and Rodrigues solitaire.
The Raphina are a clade of extinct flightless birds formerly called didines or didine birds. They inhabited the Mascarene Islands of Mauritius and Rodrigues, but became extinct through hunting by humans and predation by introduced non-native mammals following human colonisation in the 17th century. Historically, many different groups have been named for both the dodo and the Rodrigues solitaire, not all grouping them together. Most recently, it is considered that the two birds can be classified in Columbidae, often under the subfamily Raphinae. The first person to suggest a close affinity to the doves was Johannes Theodor Reinhardt, whose opinions were then supported by Hugh Edwin Strickland and Alexander Gordon Melville.
The Choiseul pigeon is an extinct species of bird in the pigeon and dove family, Columbidae. It was endemic to the island of Choiseul in the Solomon Islands, although there are unsubstantiated reports that it may once have lived on several nearby islands. The last confirmed sighting was in 1904. Other common names were Solomons crested pigeon, Solomon Islands crowned-pigeon and Kuvojo.
The Réunion pink pigeon is an extinct subspecies of pigeon that formerly lived on the Mascarene island of Réunion. It is known from the description of a rusty-red pigeon given by Dubois in 1674 and a single subfossil humerus that agrees with that of the pink pigeon of Mauritius in generic characteristics, except being slightly longer. Also, Dubois' reference to the bill being red at the base and the eyes being surrounded by a red ring suggest that this species was closely allied to the Mauritius taxon. Dubois' description was as follows:
wild pigeons, everywhere full with them, some with slaty-coloured feathering [Alectroenas?], the others russet-red [N. duboisi]. They are a little larger than the European pigeons, and have larger bills, red at the end close to the head, the eyes ringed with the colour of fire, like pheasants. There is a season when they are so fat that one can no longer see their cloaca [croupion]. They are very good tasting. Wood-pigeons and turtle-doves, as one sees in Europe and as good.
The Mauritius blue pigeon is an extinct species of blue pigeon formerly endemic to the Mascarene island of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean east of Madagascar. It has two extinct relatives from the Mascarenes and three extant ones from other islands. It is the type species of the genus of blue pigeons, Alectroenas. It had white hackles around the head, neck and breast and blue plumage on the body, and it was red on the tail and the bare parts of the head. These colours were thought similar to those of the Dutch flag, a resemblance reflected in its French common name, Pigeon Hollandais. The juveniles may have been partially green. It was 30 cm (12 in) long and larger and more robust than any other blue pigeon species. It fed on fruits, nuts, and molluscs, and was once widespread in the forests of Mauritius.
The tooth-billed pigeon, also known as the manumea, is a large pigeon found only in Samoa. It is the only living species of genus Didunculus. A related extinct species, the Tongan tooth-billed pigeon, is only known from subfossil remains in several archeological sites in Tonga. The tooth-billed pigeon is the national bird of Samoa and featured on the 20 tālā bills and the 50 sene pieces of the 2008/2011 series. Native only to Samoa's primary rainforest, it is considered to be endangered, with only a few hundred individuals thought to remain in existence.
The tooth-billed pigeons are the only genus (Didunculus) of the subfamily Didunculinae, in the pigeon and dove family, (Columbidae). It has no close living relatives, but it has been shown to be genetically close to the dodo, and the genus name Didunculus means "little dodo". The jaw and tongue structure, and the superficially parrotlike bill have suggested a relationship to the parrots, but these features have arisen from its specialised diet rather than any real relationship.
The blue pigeons are a genus, Alectroenas, of birds in the dove and pigeon family Columbidae. They are native to islands in the western Indian Ocean.
The plain-breasted ground dove is a species of bird in the family Columbidae. It lacks the scaled appearance to the feathers of the similar and typically more abundant common ground dove.
Ducula is a genus of the pigeon family Columbidae, collectively known as imperial pigeons. They are large to very large pigeons with a heavy build and medium to long tails. They are arboreal, feed mainly on fruit and are closely related to the other genus of fruit-eating doves, Ptilinopus. Both genera display brightly coloured plumage, predominantly green, often with contrasting under-parts of purple, orange or red. Some Ducula have prominently swollen ceres. They have large gapes and swallow seeds whole, playing an important role in seed dispersal.
The Polynesian ground dove or Society Islands ground dove or Tutururu is a critically endangered species of bird in the family Columbidae. Originally endemic to the Society Islands and Tuamotus in French Polynesia, it has now been extirpated from most of its former range by habitat loss and predation by introduced species such as cats and rats, and the species is now endemic only in the Acteon islands. The total population is estimated to be around 100-120 birds.
Nesoenas is a bird genus in the pigeon and dove family, Columbidae. It is often included with the typical turtle-doves in Streptopelia or the typical pigeons (Columba). By those who accepted it, it was usually treated as monotypic, containing only the pink pigeon of Mauritius.
The grey-green fruit dove is a species of bird in the family Columbidae. It is endemic to the Society Islands in French Polynesia. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.
The black cuckoo-dove or black dove, also known as the slaty cuckoo dove, is a species of bird in the family Columbidae. It is endemic to the Lesser Sunda Islands, being found on Timor, Wetar, Rote, and Atauro. It inhabits primary and secondary monsoon forest, eucalyptus forest, and woodlands. It is 38.5 cm (15.2 in) long on average and is mainly dark bluish-gray, lighter on the head and underparts and darker on the wings and tail. It has yellow orbital skin.
Columbinae is a subfamily of birds from the family Columbidae. Otherwise, four genera Geotrygon, Leptotila, Starnoenas and Zenaida form subfamily Leptotilinae.
Pampusana is a mid-sized genus of ground-dwelling doves which occur in rainforests in the Pacific region. They are not closely related to the American ground doves.
↑ Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (2020). "Pigeons". IOC World Bird List Version 10.1. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 27 February 2020.
↑ Pereira, S.L. et al. (2007) Mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequences support a Cretaceous origin of Columbiformes and a dispersal-driven radiation in the Paleocene. Syst Biol. 56:656–72
↑ Soares, A.E.R. et al. (2016) Complete mitochondrial genomes of living and extinct pigeons revise the timing of the columbiform radiation. BMC Evolutionary Biology, 16(230).
↑ Leach, William Elford (1819). "Eleventh Room". Synopsis of the Contents of the British Museum (15thed.). London: British Museum. pp.63–68 [66]. Although the name of the author is not specified in the document, Leach was the Keeper of Zoology at the time.
↑ Janoo, Anwar (2005). "Discovery of isolated dodo bones Raphus cucullatus (L.), Aves, Columbiformes from Mauritius cave shelters highlights human predation, with a comment on the status of the family Raphidae Wetmore, 1930". Annales de Paléontologie. 91 (2): 167. Bibcode:2005AnPal..91..167J. doi:10.1016/j.annpal.2004.12.002.
↑ Olson, Storrs L. (1985). "The fossil record of birds". In Farmer, Donald S.; King, James R.; Parkes, Kenneth C. (eds.). Avian Biology, Vol. VIII. Academic Press. pp.79–238. hdl:10088/6553. ISBN978-0-12-249408-6. The earliest dove yet known, from the early Miocene (Aquitanian) of France, was a small species named Columba calcaria by Milne-Edwards (1867–1871) from a single humerus, for which Lambrecht (1933) later created the genus Gerandia
1 2 Worthy, Trevor H.; Hand, Suzanne J.; Worthy, Jennifer P.; Tennyson, Alan J. D.; Scofield, R. Paul (2009). "A large fruit pigeon (Columbidae) from the Early Miocene of New Zealand". The Auk. 126 (3): 649–656. doi:10.1525/auk.2009.08244. S2CID86799657. Because Columba calcaria Milne-Edwards, 1867–1871, from the Lower Miocene at Saint-Gérand-le-Puy in France, is now also considered a sandgrouse, as Gerandia calcaria (Mlíkovský 2002), there is no pre-Pliocene columbid record in Europe.
↑ Thorsen, M., Blanvillain, C., & Sulpice, R. (2002). Reasons for decline, conservation needs, and a translocation of the critically endangered upe (Marquesas imperial pigeon, Ducula galeata), French Polynesia. Department of Conservation.
↑ Baptista, Luis F.; Trail, Pepper W.; Horblit, H. M.; Sharpe, Christopher J.; Boesman, Peter F. D.; Garcia, Ernest (4 March 2020). Del Hoyo, Josep; Elliott, Andrew; Sargatal, Jordi; Christie, David; De Juana, Eduardo (eds.). "Somali Pigeon (Columba oliviae)". Birds of the World. doi:10.2173/bow.sompig1.01. S2CID240954419.
1 2 3 4 Cyrino, Monica S. (2010). Aphrodite. Gods and Heroes of the Ancient World. New York City, New York and London, England: Routledge. pp.120–123. ISBN978-0-415-77523-6.
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