Join our zoo community

The Zoochat Photographic Guide To Mesites, Pigeons And Sandgrouse

Discussion in 'Wildlife & Nature Conservation' started by TeaLovingDave, 13 Jan 2019.

  1. TeaLovingDave

    TeaLovingDave Moderator Staff Member 10+ year member

    Joined:
    16 May 2010
    Posts:
    14,735
    Location:
    Wilds of Northumberland
    Leucosarcia


    Wonga Pigeon
    (Leucosarcia melanoleuca)

    The range of this species extends across eastern Australia, from east-central Queensland to south-central Victoria.

    Monotypic.

    Photo by @gentle lemur

    [​IMG]
    .
     
  2. TeaLovingDave

    TeaLovingDave Moderator Staff Member 10+ year member

    Joined:
    16 May 2010
    Posts:
    14,735
    Location:
    Wilds of Northumberland
    Looking at your photographs, and comparing them to the diagrams/advice on HBW and those photographs I can locate of the taxa in question, I think you've probably got the right identification for each :) as such I have added them to the thread!
     
    ThylacineAlive and d1am0ndback like this.
  3. Kakapo

    Kakapo Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    3 Mar 2009
    Posts:
    2,581
    Location:
    Zaragoza, Spain
    Some advice with ID of these doves? Unknown doves | ZooChat
    My dear friend @Manumea , that is a pigeon expert, stated here in the comments that they are lemon doves (Columba larvata). I was a bit puzzled because I ruled out that species before asking. However I stated his expert criteria with no doubt. But later, in another place, he gave me a different opinion on the same photo, telling me that they looks like some species of Leptotila. And once seen the photos of Leptotila uploaded in this Photographic Guide, I must agree. Then the problem is, which species?
     
  4. TeaLovingDave

    TeaLovingDave Moderator Staff Member 10+ year member

    Joined:
    16 May 2010
    Posts:
    14,735
    Location:
    Wilds of Northumberland
    [​IMG]

    It's a puzzling one indeed; ordinarily I would have straight away gone to Lemon Dove as the ID, but now you have mentioned the other possibility it does seem quite compelling :p looking through photographs on the Internet Bird Collection, I think those birds could quite possibly be Leptotila rufaxilla.

    The following are the images which most give me that impression:

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]




    Thoughts, anyone else?
     
    Last edited: 20 Jan 2019
  5. TeaLovingDave

    TeaLovingDave Moderator Staff Member 10+ year member

    Joined:
    16 May 2010
    Posts:
    14,735
    Location:
    Wilds of Northumberland
    Petrophassa


    Chestnut-quilled Rock-pigeon
    (Petrophassa rufipennis)

    The range of this species is restricted to a small stretch of north-central Australia, roughly corresponding to the northeast corner of Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory.

    Monotypic; no photographs of this species are present in the Zoochat gallery.


    White-quilled Rock-pigeon
    (Petrophassa albipennis)

    The range of this species is restricted to north-central Australia, roughly corresponding to northeast Western Australia and adjacent portions of northwest Northern Territory.

    Two subspecies are recognised:

    P. a. albipennis
    P. a. boothi


    Photo by @Hix

    [​IMG]

    .
     
  6. TeaLovingDave

    TeaLovingDave Moderator Staff Member 10+ year member

    Joined:
    16 May 2010
    Posts:
    14,735
    Location:
    Wilds of Northumberland
    Geophaps


    White-bellied Spinifex Pigeon (Geophaps plumifera)

    The range of this species extends throughout arid grasslands of northern and central Australia, from the Kimberley region of Western Australia and adjacent areas of the Northern Territory in the north, south to north-central South Australia and east to the base of Cape York Peninsula in Queensland.

    Two subspecies are recognised:

    G. p. plumifer - photo by @Hix

    [​IMG]

    G. p. leucogaster
    - photo by @Hix

    [​IMG]


    Rufous-bellied Spinifex Pigeon (Geophaps ferruginea)

    The range of this species is restricted to northwest Western Australia, with a disjunct population present to the east, in western Kimberley.

    Monotypic.

    Photo by @Goura

    [​IMG]


    Squatter Pigeon (Geophaps scripta)

    The range of this species extends throughout eastern Australia, from central Cape York Peninsula in northeast Queensland, south to northern New South Wales.

    Two subspecies are recognised:

    G. s. peninsulae - photo by @LaughingDove

    [​IMG]

    G. s. scripta - photo by @Tomek

    [​IMG]


    Partridge Pigeon (Geophaps smithii)

    The range of this species comprises a pair of disjunct populations in northern Australia; one in the Kimberley region of northeast Western Australia, and one in the northernmost reaches of the Northern Territory and adjacent Western Australia.

    Two subspecies recognised:

    G. s. blaauwi
    G. s. smithii
    - photo by @Terry Thomas

    [​IMG]
    .
     
    UngulateNerd92 and Great Argus like this.
  7. TeaLovingDave

    TeaLovingDave Moderator Staff Member 10+ year member

    Joined:
    16 May 2010
    Posts:
    14,735
    Location:
    Wilds of Northumberland
    Phaps


    Common Bronzewing (Phaps chalcoptera)

    The range of this species is widespread throughout the vast majority of Australia, absent only from the most arid areas of central Australia; an introduced population in New Zealand failed to persist.

    Monotypic.

    Photo by @molinea

    [​IMG]


    Brush Bronzewing (Phaps elegans)

    The range of this species extends across southern and eastern Australia in a pair of disjunct populations; one in southwest Western Australia; and another extending from south-central South Australia to southern Victoria, and north from here along the eastern coastline to southwest Queensland.

    Two subspecies are recognised:

    P. e. occidentalis - photo by @Hix

    [​IMG]

    P. e. elegans - photo by @Hix

    [​IMG]


    Flock Bronzewing (Phaps histrionica)

    The range of this species extends throughout much of northern and west-central Australia, from northeast Western Australia, through central Northern Territory and northern South Australia, to northwest Queensland and northwest New South Wales.

    Monotypic.

    Photo by @nrg800

    [​IMG]

    .
     
    UngulateNerd92 and Great Argus like this.
  8. TeaLovingDave

    TeaLovingDave Moderator Staff Member 10+ year member

    Joined:
    16 May 2010
    Posts:
    14,735
    Location:
    Wilds of Northumberland
    Ocyphaps


    Crested Pigeon
    (Ocyphaps lophotes)

    The range of this species extends throughout Australia, absent only from the northern portions of the Cape York Peninsula and Tasmania.

    Two subspecies recognised:

    O. l. whitlocki - photo by @LaughingDove

    [​IMG]

    O. l. lophotes - photo by @Chlidonias

    [​IMG]
    .
     
  9. Great Argus

    Great Argus Well-Known Member 5+ year member

    Joined:
    30 Mar 2018
    Posts:
    5,442
    Location:
    California
    I'm not a pigeon expert, but in comparing the photos I would agree with your conclusion.
     
  10. TeaLovingDave

    TeaLovingDave Moderator Staff Member 10+ year member

    Joined:
    16 May 2010
    Posts:
    14,735
    Location:
    Wilds of Northumberland
    Geopelia


    Diamond Dove
    (Geopelia cuneata)

    The range of this species extends throughout much of Australia, barring the southern and eastern coastal areas from southwest Western Australia in the west to southeast Victoria in the east, and north to east-central Queensland.

    Monotypic.

    Photo by @alexkant

    [​IMG]


    Zebra Dove
    (Geopelia striata)

    The range of this species extends from southern Myanmar, into the Malay Peninsula and from here into Sumatra and Java; populations in the Philippines and elsewhere in the Greater and Lesser Sundas are of uncertain status, and may be introduced. Introduced populations exist in Madagascar, Tahiti, Hawaii and the Seychelles.

    Monotypic.

    Photo by @LaughingDove

    [​IMG]


    Peaceful Dove
    (Geopelia placida)

    The range of this species extends throughout northern and eastern Australia, and into southern and eastern New Guinea.

    Three subspecies are recognised:

    G. p. papua
    G. p. placida
    - photo by @Hix

    [​IMG]

    G. p. clelandi



    Barred Dove
    (Geopelia maugeus)

    The range of this species extends throughout the Lesser Sundas from Sumbawa in the west to the Tanimbar Islands in the east.

    Monotypic.

    Photo by @gentle lemur

    [​IMG]


    Bar-shouldered Dove
    (Geopelia humeralis)

    The range of this species extends throughout northern and eastern Australia, and into south-central and southern New Guinea.

    Four subspecies are recognised:

    G. h. gregalis
    - photo by @Daniel Sörensen

    [​IMG]

    G. h. headlandi
    G. h. inexpectata
    - photo by @LaughingDove

    [​IMG]

    G. h. humeralis
    - photo by @WhistlingKite24

    [​IMG]

    .
     
  11. TeaLovingDave

    TeaLovingDave Moderator Staff Member 10+ year member

    Joined:
    16 May 2010
    Posts:
    14,735
    Location:
    Wilds of Northumberland
    Raphini


    This lineage comprises eight genera, three of which are recently-extinct:

    Trugon
    - Thick-billed Ground Pigeon (monotypic)

    Microgoura - Choiseul Crowned Pigeon (monotypic)

    Otidiphaps - Pheasant-pigeons (4 species)

    Goura - True Crowned Pigeons (4 species)

    Caloenas - Nicobar Pigeon and Spotted Green Pigeon (2 species)

    Didunculus - Tooth-billed Pigeon (monotypic)

    Raphus - Dodo (monotypic)

    Pezophaps - Rodrigues Solitaire (monotypic)
    .
     
    Last edited: 20 Jan 2019
  12. TeaLovingDave

    TeaLovingDave Moderator Staff Member 10+ year member

    Joined:
    16 May 2010
    Posts:
    14,735
    Location:
    Wilds of Northumberland
    Trugon


    Thick-billed Ground-pigeon (Trugon terrestris)

    The range of this species extends throughout New Guinea.

    Three subspecies are recognised:

    T. t. terrestris - photo by @Tomek

    [​IMG]

    T. t. mayri
    T. t. leucopareia

    .
     
  13. TeaLovingDave

    TeaLovingDave Moderator Staff Member 10+ year member

    Joined:
    16 May 2010
    Posts:
    14,735
    Location:
    Wilds of Northumberland
    Microgoura


    Choiseul Crowned Pigeon (Microgoura meeki)

    Extinct; formerly endemic to the island of Choiseul in the northwest Solomon Islands, although it has been speculated to have been more widespread throughout the Solomons in the past, and recorded only from six skins and an egg collected in 1904. It is believed to have become extinct no later than the 1940s, with predation by introduced cats and dogs the suspected cause, but given the species was unrecorded by western visitors to Choiseul prior to 1904 it is possible that it was on the brink of extinction even at the time of discovery. The species is suggested to represent a link between the Thick-billed Ground Pigeon and the true Crowned Pigeons of genus Goura.

    Monotypic; no photographs of this species are present in the Zoochat gallery.

    .,
     
    ThylacineAlive likes this.
  14. TeaLovingDave

    TeaLovingDave Moderator Staff Member 10+ year member

    Joined:
    16 May 2010
    Posts:
    14,735
    Location:
    Wilds of Northumberland
    Otidiphaps


    White-naped Pheasant-pigeon
    (Otidiphaps aruensis)

    Endemic to the Aru Islands.

    Monotypic.

    Photo by @vogelcommando

    [​IMG]


    Green-naped Pheasant-pigeon (Otidiphaps nobilis)

    The range of this species extends throughout the mountainous regions of western New Guinea, and also the offshore islands of Batanta, Waigeo and Yapen.

    Monotypic.

    Photo by @ro6ca66

    [​IMG]


    Grey-naped Pheasant-pigeon (Otidiphaps cervicalis)

    The range of this species extends throughout the mountainous regions of eastern and southeast New Guinea.

    Monotypic; no photographs of this species are present in the Zoochat gallery.


    Black-naped Pheasant-pigeon (Otidiphaps insularis)

    Endemic to Fergusson Island in the D'Entrecasteaux Islands off the southeast coastline of New Guinea.

    Monotypic; no photographs of this species are present in the Zoochat gallery.

    .
     
  15. TeaLovingDave

    TeaLovingDave Moderator Staff Member 10+ year member

    Joined:
    16 May 2010
    Posts:
    14,735
    Location:
    Wilds of Northumberland
    Goura


    Western Crowned-pigeon
    (Goura cristata)

    The range of this species extends throughout the West Papuan Islands, and into the northwest lowlands of New Guinea, east to the Siriwo River.

    Three subspecies recognised:

    G. c. minor
    - photo by @ThylacineAlive

    [​IMG]

    G. c. cristata
    - photo by @Goura

    [​IMG]

    G. c. pygmaea



    Sclater's Crowned-pigeon (Goura sclaterii)

    The range of this species extends throughout southern New Guinea, from the Mimika River east to Fly River.

    Monotypic.

    Photo by @TeaLovingDave

    [​IMG]


    Scheepmaker's Crowned-pigeon (Goura scheepmakeri)

    The range of this species is restricted to the southern coastline of southeast New Guinea.

    Monotypic; no photographs of this species are present in the Zoochat gallery.


    Victoria Crowned-pigeon (Goura victoria)

    The range of this species extends from Biak and Yapen off the northern coastline of New Guinea, and across northern New Guinea from Geelvink Bay to Collingwood Bay.

    Two subspecies recognised:

    G. v. victoria
    G. v. beccarii
    - photo by @Daniel Sörensen

    [​IMG]

    .
     
    Last edited: 20 Jan 2019
  16. TeaLovingDave

    TeaLovingDave Moderator Staff Member 10+ year member

    Joined:
    16 May 2010
    Posts:
    14,735
    Location:
    Wilds of Northumberland
    Caloenas


    Spotted Green Pigeon
    (Caloenas maculata)

    Extinct; known only from two specimens collected in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, one of which is now lost, and which are of unknown provenance. It is presumed that the species was endemic to one or more Pacific islands, possibly Tahiti, but nothing is known regarding when it became extinct nor the causes, although habitat loss, hunting and predation by introduced species are likely given these are major factors in other bird extinctions during this rough timespan and in this area.

    Monotypic; no photographs of this species are present in the Zoochat gallery.


    Nicobar Pigeon
    (Caloenas nicobarica)

    The range of this species extends throughout the eastern Indian and western Pacific oceans on many of the island chains within this area, from the Nicobar and Andaman Islands in the east, through the Greater and Lesser Sundas, Philippines and offshore islands of New Guinea to the Solomon Islands in the west.

    Two subspecies recognised:

    C. n. nicobarica - photo by @savethelephant

    [​IMG]

    C. n. pelewensis

    .
     
  17. TeaLovingDave

    TeaLovingDave Moderator Staff Member 10+ year member

    Joined:
    16 May 2010
    Posts:
    14,735
    Location:
    Wilds of Northumberland
    Didunculus


    Tooth-billed Pigeon
    (Didunculus strigirostris)

    Endemic to Upolu and Savaii in Samoa; the continued survival of the species on the former island is in some doubt, as it has not been recorded in some decades, whilst the most recent confirmed record on the latter dates to 2014. Certainly on the brink of extinction.

    Monotypic; no photographs of this species are present in the Zoochat gallery.
    .
     
  18. TeaLovingDave

    TeaLovingDave Moderator Staff Member 10+ year member

    Joined:
    16 May 2010
    Posts:
    14,735
    Location:
    Wilds of Northumberland
    Raphus


    Dodo (Raphus cucullatus)

    Extinct; formerly endemic to Mauritus, and known from numerous partial skeletons, skeletal fragments, eyewitness reports and scanty soft tissue material. The species was probably extirpated from mainland Mauritus by the early 17th century, but persisted on offshore islets for a handful of decades with the final record dating to 1662 on Isle d’Ambre; certainly extinct by 1690. The extinction of the species is ascribed to hunting, habitat loss and egg predation by introduced species such as cats, rats and pigs.

    Monotypic.

    Photo of a partial skeleton by @TeaLovingDave

    [​IMG]

    .
     
  19. TeaLovingDave

    TeaLovingDave Moderator Staff Member 10+ year member

    Joined:
    16 May 2010
    Posts:
    14,735
    Location:
    Wilds of Northumberland
    Pezophaps


    Rodrigues Solitaire (Pezophaps solitaria)

    Extinct; formerly endemic to Rodrigues. This species is known from numerous historical accounts along with a substantial amount of skeletal material, and was last recorded in the mid-18th century. The species was certainly extinct by c.1780, as surveys on the island some decades later found no evidence the species had been seen in living memory, with the primary cause of extinction ascribed to hunting by humans and predation by introduced cats and other species.

    Monotypic.

    Photographs of a partial skeleton by @TeaLovingDave

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    .
     
  20. TeaLovingDave

    TeaLovingDave Moderator Staff Member 10+ year member

    Joined:
    16 May 2010
    Posts:
    14,735
    Location:
    Wilds of Northumberland
    Here, it seems appropriate to write a little explanatory note on the placement of the Dodo and Solitaire in this account; traditionally these have been suggested to represent a subfamily within the Columbidae, sister to all extant species, on the basis of their flightlessness, large size and unusual appearance - particularly in the case of the Dodo, which for some time was even suggested to belong outside the Columbidae.

    However, due to more accurate genetic, morphological and biogeographic analysis, it has become increasingly obvious in the past few decades that both species are deeply nested within the radiation of Indian and Pacific ground pigeons which I have discussed above under the name "Raphini", and form the sister clade to Caloenas in particular. As such, the anomalous features displayed by the Dodo and Solitaire represent "recent" adaptation to a flightless lifestyle given the fact that the Mascarenes are volcanic in origin and younger than 10 million years old, and thus the last common ancestor of the species must have retained flight and existed within this timespan. Moroever, in the case of the Dodo a significant amount of paedomorphy is present - as can be demonstrated if one compares a juvenile pigeon to images of adult members of this species - which further enhances an incorrect sense of how distant this species was from extant pigeon genera.
     
    ThylacineAlive likes this.