Thick-billed Green-Pigeon
Treron curvirostra
Brightly-colored and thickset pigeon of the forest canopy, usually seen flying over in pairs or small groups. Distinctive bicolored bill and bright green eyering are visible even from a distance. Both sexes are mostly green. Males have maroon backs, while females are green all over; both have jagged bright yellow striping on the wing edges. Flocks are seen in fruiting trees in lowland and foothill forests, where they often associate with other green pigeons. Gives smoothly undulating “woooOOOO”, often in series.
Identification
Rather small-sized pigeon being under 26 cm (10 in) as compared to other green pigeons. A thick pale greenish bill with red base, broad bluish-Green eye ring, grey crown and maroon mantle diagnostic. Wings have black primary and secondaries with yellow outer edge. Underside green in both sexes. Thighs dark green with whitish scales. Female has greenish undertail coverts with whitish scales. Males have maroon dorsum and dull chestnut undertail coverts.
Taxonomy
The thick-billed green pigeon was formally described in 1789 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition of Carl Linnaeus's Systema Naturae. He placed it with all the other doves and pigeons in the genus Columba and coined the binomial name Columba curvirostra. Gmelin based his description on the "Hook-billed Pigeon" from the "island of Tanna in the South Seas" that had been described and illustrated in 1783 by the English ornithologist John Latham. Latham was mistaken in believing that his specimen had come from the island of Tanna in the New Hebrides. The type locality was designated as the Malay Peninsula by Harry C. Oberholser in 1912. The thick-billed green pigeon is now placed with around 30 other green pigeons in the genus Treron that was introduced in 1816 by the French ornithologist Louis Pierre Vieillot. The genus name is from the Ancient Greek trērōn meaning "pigeon" or "dove". The specific epithet curvirostra combines the Latin curvus meaning "curved" with -rostris meaning "billed".<p>Nine subspecies are recognized:
- Scientific name
- Treron curvirostra
- Authority
- (Gmelin, JF, 1789)
- Order
- Columbiformes
- Family
- Columbidae
- Genus
- Treron
Range and habitat
It ranges across the eastern regions of the Indian Subcontinent and Southeast Asia, stretching from the Eastern Himalayas to Borneo and Sumatra.<p>Found across Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei, Cambodia, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Tibet and Vietnam.<p>Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical mangrove forests.
- Migration
- Complete migrants
Behavior
Known to feed on syconia of Figs walking slowly along the branches.
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Black-eared Barbet
Psilopogon duvaucelii
A small barbet of dense, broad-leaved forests in lowland and foothill regions. Adult is bright green with a blue face patterned with a complex mosaic of black, red, orange, and yellow. Juvenile is green with a powder-blue face and no dark markings. Like most other barbets, tends to stick to dense canopy and is seldom seen, but its far-carrying song is often heard: a long steady series of single or doubled chirping notes that somewhat resemble a frog’s. Also gives a series of rising peeps: “weet, weet, weet.” Overlaps with Blue-eared Barbet (with which it is treated as one species by some taxonomies) in far southern Thailand and northern Malaysia.
Beautiful Sunbird
Cinnyris pulchellus
A slim, long-billed sunbird in which breeding males and females are very different. Breeding males are mostly dark green with a red-and-yellow band across the underparts. Females are plain, with gray-brown upperparts and white underparts tinged with yellow. Found in a wide variety of open habitats including savanna, woodland, and gardens. Similar to Black-bellied Sunbird, but breeding males are separated by the more extensive yellow in their belly band, and females by their reduced streaking below. Little or no range overlap with Gorgeous Sunbird, but if in doubt the green belly of breeding male Beautiful Sunbird will identify it. The common call is a quiet chipping, and the song is a high-pitched jumble typical of sunbirds.
Chestnut-vented Warbler
Curruca subcoerulea
Distinctive gray bird with a pale eye, streaked throat, rufous vent, and large white patches on the tail. Found in a variety of habitats with thick shrubs, including fynbos, karoo, semi-desert, and savanna. A fairly skulking species that is usually detected by voice: an exuberant mixture of ratcheting notes, chatters, and whistles. Similar to Layard’s Warbler, but easily distinguished by rufous vent and more heavily streaked throat.
Start Your Bird Watching Journey
Identify a bird outdoors and keep the field guide close for your next observation.