Buru Green-Pigeon
Treron aromaticus
A brightly-colored green pigeon confined to the island of Buru. Mainly green, with pale markings in the wing forming a striking band. Males have a chestnut back, females a green one like the main body color. As it is the only Treron green-pigeon in its very limited range, there is little potential for confusion with similar species. Currently, the voice remains undescribed.
Taxonomy
The Buru 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 aromatica. Gmelin based his own description on "Le Pigeon Vert d'Amboine" that had been described and illustrated by the French ornithologists Mathurin Jacques Brisson and Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon. The Buru green pigeon is now placed 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 aromaticus is Latin meaning "aromatic" or "fragrant". Amboine (now Ambon) and Buru form part of the Maluku Islands or Moluccas of Indonesia that were known as the Spice Islands. The species is monotypic: no subspecies are recognised.<p>The Buru green pigeon was formerly consider as conspecific with the Pompadour green pigeon (Treron pompadora).
- Scientific name
- Treron aromaticus
- Authority
- (Gmelin, JF, 1789)
- Order
- Columbiformes
- Family
- Columbidae
- Genus
- Treron
Range and habitat
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
The Buru green pigeon usually occurs singly or in small groups. Its flight is fast and direct, with the regular beats and an occasional sharp flick of the wings that are characteristic of pigeons in general. It eats the seeds and fruits of a wide variety of plants. It builds a stick nest in a tree and lays two white eggs.
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
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