Madagascar Green-Pigeon
Treron australis
Medium-sized chunky pigeon that is mostly pale green, with black wings and a pale wing stripe. Flight is very fast and direct. Sometimes found alone, though more often in small groups. Widespread but erratic; local abundance linked to the availability of fruit, its main food. Found in many habitats including spiny forest, dry deciduous forest, rainforest, villages, and scrub, mostly at low and middle elevations. Most common in dry habitats in western Madagascar. Voice is a quiet but maniacal series of sputters, whistles, and cackles. This is the only green pigeon within its range.
Taxonomy
In 1760 the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson included a description of the Madagascar green pigeon in his Ornithologie based on specimen that he had examined. He used the French name Le pigeon ramier verd de Madagascar and the Latin Palumbus viridis madagascariensis. The species was also illustrated in Edme-Louis Daubenton's Planches Enluminées D'Histoire Naturelle. Although Brisson coined Latin names, these do not conform to the binomial system and are not recognised by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature. When the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus revised his Mantissa Plantarum in 1771 he added an appendix which included a description of the Madagascar green pigeon. He coined the binomial name Columba australis and cited the earlier authors. The specific epithet australis is the Latin word for "southern". The species is now placed in the genus Treron that was introduced in 1816 by the French ornithologist Louis Pierre Vieillot.<p>Two subspecies are recognised:
- Scientific name
- Treron australis
- Authority
- (Linnaeus, 1771)
- Order
- Columbiformes
- Family
- Columbidae
- Genus
- Treron
Range and habitat
- Migration
- Resident species
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
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