The Pitcairn Islands, officially the Pitcairn, Henderson, Ducie and Oeno Islands, is a group of four volcanic islands in the southern Pacific Ocean that form the sole British Overseas Territory in the Pacific Ocean. The four islands — Pitcairn proper, Henderson, Ducie, and Oeno — are scattered across several hundred miles of ocean and have a combined land area of about 18 square miles (47 km2). Henderson Island accounts for 86% of the land area, but only Pitcairn Island is inhabited. The nearest places are Mangareva to the west and Easter Island to the east.
Columbidae is a bird family consisting of pigeons and doves. It is the only family in the order Columbiformes. These are stout-bodied birds with short necks, and short slender bills that in some species feature fleshy ceres. They primarily feed on seeds, fruits, and plants. The family occurs worldwide, but the greatest variety is in the Indomalayan and Australasian realms.
The two to four species of Polynesian sandpipers, the only members of the genus Prosobonia, are small wading birds confined to remote Pacific islands of French Polynesia. Only one species now exists, and it is rare and little known. This bird is sometimes separated in the genus Aechmorhynchus, restricting the genus to the extinct southern forms.
The history of the Pitcairn Islands begins with the colonization of the islands by Polynesians in the 11th century. The Polynesians established a culture that flourished for four centuries and then vanished. They lived on Pitcairn and Henderson Islands, and on Mangareva Island 540 kilometres (340 mi) to the northwest, for about 400 years.
Henderson Island is an uninhabited island in the south Pacific Ocean. With Pitcairn, Oeno and Ducie Islands it forms the Pitcairn Island Group.
Ducie Island is an uninhabited atoll in the Pitcairn Islands. It lies east of Pitcairn Island, and east of Henderson Island, and has a total area of 1.5 square miles (3.9 km2), which includes the lagoon. It is 1.5 miles (2.4 km) long, measured northeast to southwest, and about 1 mile (1.6 km) wide. The island is composed of four islets: Acadia, Pandora, Westward and Edwards.
The thick-billed ground dove is an extinct dove species of the family Columbidae.
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 barking imperial pigeon, also known as Peale's imperial pigeon, is a species of bird in the pigeon family Columbidae. It is endemic to Fiji, where it occurs on most of the medium and large islands.
The Polynesian ground dove is a critically endangered species of bird in the family Columbidae. It is endemic to the Tuamotus in French Polynesia with recent records from the atolls of Matureivavao, Rangiroa, Tenararo, Morane, Vahanga and perhaps Tikehau. It favors tropical forests, especially with Pandanus tectorius, Pisonia grandis and shrubs, but it has also been recorded from dense shrub growing below coconut palms. It is threatened by habitat loss and predation by introduced species such as cats and rats. The total population is estimated to be around 100-120 birds and it has already disappeared from several islands where it formerly occurred.
The Norfolk ground dove was a species of bird in the Columbidae, or pigeon family.
The Henderson fruit dove, also known as scarlet-capped fruit dove, is a species of bird in the family Columbidae. It is endemic to Henderson Island in the South Pacific Pitcairn Island group.
The great ground dove is an extinct species of bird in the family Columbidae. It was found in Mangaia in the southern Cook Islands, and in French Polynesia where subfossil bones between 1000–2000 years old have been found in the Marquesas, as well as between 750–1250 years old at the Fa'ahia early occupation site on Huahine in the Society Islands.
The Henderson archaic pigeon, or Henderson Island archaic pigeon, is an extinct bird in the Columbidae, or pigeon family. It was described in 2008 as a new genus and species from subfossil remains found on Henderson Island in the Pitcairn Group of south-eastern Polynesia. Additionally, an indeterminate species possibly the same as B. obsoleta, has been found in the Gambier archipelago.
The Henderson imperial pigeon, or Henderson Island imperial pigeon, is an extinct species of bird in the Columbidae, or pigeon family. It was described from subfossil remains found on Henderson Island in the Pitcairn Group of south-eastern Polynesia.
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.
The fruit doves, also known as fruit pigeons, are a genus (Ptilinopus) of birds in the pigeon and dove family (Columbidae). These colourful, frugivorous doves are found in forests and woodlands in Southeast Asia and Oceania. It is a large genus with over 50 species, some threatened or already extinct.
