Columba punicea

(Blyth, 1842)

Vernacular names
English : Pale-capped pigeon
French : Pigeon marron

Classification
Class : Aves
Order : Columbiformes
Family : Columbidae
Notes : No subspecies known

Identification
Adults grow to 41 cm in length for a weight of 510 g. Plumage rich purplish-brown, darker on wings with black flight feathers and tail. Indistinct mottling on breast, dark green iridescence on nape. Pale grey (female) to whitish (male) cap.

Range and habitat
The species occurs in southeast Asia, patchily in eastern and north-east India, Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. Lives in evergreen and mangrove forests with scrub and plantations, to 1600 m.

Conservation
IUCN RED LIST : VULNERABLE
CITES : Not Listed
Status : The species used to be widespread but is now patchily distributed and very rare. Threatened by habitat loss and hunting. Recently observed on Hainan.
Ex-Situ Programs : None known

Observation

 

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