Pigeon violet

Identification

The black wood pigeon is the largest pigeon in the East Asia region, with a length of between 37 cm to 40 cm long and sometimes 43.5 cm. The head is small. There is at least three subspecies of Columba janthina, with some plumage differences.<p>It is very dark in appearance, with a small head, a longish neck and tail. Overall the body is soot-black with iridescent green or purple on crown, shoulders and sides of neck. The irises are brown and have red color legs, having a rather long tail. Whole body is covered with shiny black feathers. Its inconspicuous plumage is mainly black with the crown and rump bright metallic purple. The back and chest have green purple metallic sheen.<p>The bill is longish, narrow and dark. The beak is greenish blue. Tip of the beak is ivory to pale yellow. Fleshy covering on the beak (cere) is small.<p>This species has no sexual dimorphism, the sexes are similar in appearance, but the juvenile has generally paler plumage, with limited or no development of the pale yellow neck patch. Tarsi are red in adults while paler in juveniles. Appears like a crow in flight, with large wings and slightly fanned tail.

Taxonomie

Genre : Columba ; famille : Columbidae ; ordre : Columbiformes.

Nom scientifique

Columba janthina

Autorité

Temminck, 1830

Ordre

Columbiformes

Famille

Columbidés

Genre

Columba

Répartition et habitat

The black wood pigeon lives in small islands of the East China Sea, mainly in the Ryukyu Islands, Iwo Jima and Bonin Islands and also along the southern coasts of Korea and Japan. While more abundant and with a greater range in the past, it is still thought to be resident on 15 islands and islets.<p>It occurs locally on small islands off the south coast of South Korea. In Korea, this bird is distributed and nest in Ulleungdo Island, Jeju-do and some area of south coast. It has been recorded as vagrant in eastern Russia, Shandong, mainland China and Taiwan.<p>It is an uncommon and local resident in Japan, on small islands off southern Honshu, Shikoku and Kyushu, south through the Nansei-Shoto islands in the Ryukyu Islands to the Yaeyama Islands and the Izu Islands to the Ogasawara and Iwo Islands. Distributed in Honshu region of Japan. Although it is still relatively common on the Izu Islands, it has apparently declined there since the 1950s, it was thought to have declined on Okinawa during the 1980s because of forestry activities. The subspecies Columba janthina nitens, which occur on the Ogasawara and Iwo Islands, is very rare.

Migration

Migrateurs complets

Comportement

Mode de migration: Migrateurs complets.

Conservation

Tendance de la population: stable.

Tendance de la population

stable