Azores Wood Pigeon
Encyclopedia
The Azores Wood Pigeon, Columba palumbus azorica is an endemic subspecies
of the Common Wood Pigeon (Columba palumbus) in the Atlantic Azores
islands of (Portugal
). This endemic sub-species of wood pigeon is the only live pigeon present in the Laurel forest
habitat of the Azores Islands.
, Columba palumbus excelsa. The plumage is somewhat darker and conspicuous with slightly brighter colour than the European sub-species (Columba palumbus palumbus) especially on the upperparts and the underwing coverts. The bill is orange to yellow, paler at tip. Eyes are pale yellow. Plumage is less grey and slightly more coloured than the mainland sub-species, with white neck markings and iridescent green and purple patches on the neck and breast. The neck feathers stiffen to form white spots on the sides of the neck with more extension than the European common wood pigeon but is similar to Columba palumbus casiotis. The African common wood pigeon neck spot is the largest. The Azores wood pigeon also has white in the wings and a more extensive green iridescence
on the nape
. It is otherwise essentially a gray bird with a pink breast. The common wood pigeon may be identified from other pigeons at once by its larger size.
mountain pigeon or black pigeon . The extinct species was much tamer than the Azores wood pigeon. The species is in danger of disappearing, like the related Madeiran Wood Pigeon
, (Columba palumbus maderensis).
The Azores wood pigeon is found mainly in the more wooded areas. The largest number of breeding members is found in March. The species density is very uneven. Like the other islander race of common wood pigeon and some species of Macaronesia
n or Pacific Islands wood pigeons, the Azores has a low rate of reproduction, less than the common wood pigeon. The Azores wood pigeon lays one white egg
.
In 2003, seven of the nine islands of the Azores were surveyed. The survey gave density estimates of 14.52 birds/km2 on Terceira and 5.14 birds/km2 on the other six islands. Azores wood pigeon densities in the Azores were still much lower than those of the common wood pigeon in mainland Europe. Populations in the Azores may now be limited by the availability of breeding habitat and over-winter food supply. There are strong differences between wood pigeon abundance on the different islands of the archipelago, notably with densities on the island of Terceira being higher than on any of the other islands. In 1905 The German ornithologist Ernst Hartert
identified it as a sub-species.
Azore wood pigeons play an important ecological role because they are the only birds in the area capable of eating the larger native drupe
s of laurel forest species and dispersing the seeds. Its numbers fell sharply after human colonisation of the archipelago
and it vanished altogether from some of the islands. The major cause of its population decline was habitat loss
from forest clearance, but hunting and nest predation by introduced species
like rats, were also contributory factors. Any intrusion of humans or animals such as dogs and cats can cause great concern in the nesting population. The black rat
is a species that climbs trees in search of food and assaults birds nests causing, at least, the abandonment of eggs and ruiniation of the breeding season.
This species has a greater dependence on water than other species of pigeon. It inhabits beaches and islands in the evergreen broadleaf forest
, macaronesian laurisilva
, dense subtropical forest and warm temperate evergreen broadleaf forests. It is heavily dependent on a mature forest, whose seeds were dispersed by these birds. Also it feeds in pastures and farmland, in cultivated land and tilled land. It is present inland on Terceira especially on the west coast and near Lagoa da Junco. There are a few specimens in San Miguel near Lagoa Azul. The species has virtually disappeared due to de-forestation. The breeding area is found only near bodies of fresh water with dense tree cover where most couples can nest. Diet changes seasonally as the availability of fruit fluctuates. Leaves can comprise the major part of the diet at certain times of the year, especially when there is little fruit avilable. The bird browses on leaves and buds, especially during breeding. It prefers foliage and buds at the tips of the branches. They eat rounded and fleshy young leaves, leaves from Prunus
genus, young shoots from Asteraceae
, Caryophyllaceae
, and Brassicaceae
(Cruciferae).
is the largest within the pigeon family, and has the widest distribution. Its members are typically pale grey or brown, often with white head or neck markings or iridescent green or purple patches on the neck and breast. The neck feathers may be stiffened and aligned to form grooves. One of several subgroups within Columba consists of the widespread Eurasian Common Wood Pigeon, Bolle's Pigeon, the Trocaz Pigeon, and the African Afep Pigeon
. Two Macaronesia
n endemic pigeons, Bolle's and Trocaz, are thought to be derived from isolated island populations of C. palumbus.
The Atlantic archipelagos of the Canary Islands
, Azores, and Madeira
have a volcanic origin and they have never been part of a continent. At various times in the past, the major islands of these archipelagos were all colonised by ancestral wood pigeons, which evolved on their respective islands in isolation from the mainland populations. One of these, was the lineage of extinct species laurel forest
mountain pigeon or Azores black pigeon . Mitochondrial
and nuclear
DNA sequence
s suggest that the ancestor of Bolle's Pigeon may have arrived in the Canary Islands about 5 mya, but an older lineage that gave rise to another Canarian endemic, the Laurel Pigeon
, C. junoniae, may date from 20 mya.
The Trocaz Pigeon
was recognised as a different species from the other local form, the now-extinct Madeiran Wood Pigeon
, the two local pigeons never interbred or habitually associated together. The Trocaz pigeon is a monotypic species, although in the past Bolle's Pigeon was sometimes regarded as a subspecies
of the Trocaz Pigeon.
The most recent common wood pigeon arrival was that from European or African sub-species which gave rise to the subspecies C. palumbus maderensis, on Madeira and Columba palumbus azorica in Azores islands.
Subspecies
Subspecies in biological classification, is either a taxonomic rank subordinate to species, ora taxonomic unit in that rank . A subspecies cannot be recognized in isolation: a species will either be recognized as having no subspecies at all or two or more, never just one...
of the Common Wood Pigeon (Columba palumbus) in the Atlantic Azores
Azores
The Archipelago of the Azores is composed of nine volcanic islands situated in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean, and is located about west from Lisbon and about east from the east coast of North America. The islands, and their economic exclusion zone, form the Autonomous Region of the...
islands of (Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
). This endemic sub-species of wood pigeon is the only live pigeon present in the Laurel forest
Laurel forest
Laurel forest is a subtropical or mild temperate forest, found in areas with high humidity and relatively stable and mild temperatures. They are characterized by tree species with evergreen, glossy, enlongated leaves, known as laurophyll or lauroide...
habitat of the Azores Islands.
Description
The Azores Wood Pigeon closely resembles the mainland sub-species wood pigeon of AfricaAfrica
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
, Columba palumbus excelsa. The plumage is somewhat darker and conspicuous with slightly brighter colour than the European sub-species (Columba palumbus palumbus) especially on the upperparts and the underwing coverts. The bill is orange to yellow, paler at tip. Eyes are pale yellow. Plumage is less grey and slightly more coloured than the mainland sub-species, with white neck markings and iridescent green and purple patches on the neck and breast. The neck feathers stiffen to form white spots on the sides of the neck with more extension than the European common wood pigeon but is similar to Columba palumbus casiotis. The African common wood pigeon neck spot is the largest. The Azores wood pigeon also has white in the wings and a more extensive green iridescence
Iridescence
Iridescence is generally known as the property of certain surfaces which appear to change color as the angle of view or the angle of illumination changes...
on the nape
Nape
The nape is the back of the neck. In technical anatomical/medical terminology, the nape is referred to by the word nucha, which also gives the adjective corresponding to "nape" in English, "nuchal"....
. It is otherwise essentially a gray bird with a pink breast. The common wood pigeon may be identified from other pigeons at once by its larger size.
Ecology
It is present on seven islands and extinct in Flores island. This pigeon shared its habitat with the extinct laurel forestLaurel forest
Laurel forest is a subtropical or mild temperate forest, found in areas with high humidity and relatively stable and mild temperatures. They are characterized by tree species with evergreen, glossy, enlongated leaves, known as laurophyll or lauroide...
mountain pigeon or black pigeon . The extinct species was much tamer than the Azores wood pigeon. The species is in danger of disappearing, like the related Madeiran Wood Pigeon
Madeiran Wood Pigeon
The Madeiran Wood Pigeon was an endemic subspecies of the Wood Pigeon for Madeira . This Wood Pigeon is endemic to the Laurel forest habitat....
, (Columba palumbus maderensis).
The Azores wood pigeon is found mainly in the more wooded areas. The largest number of breeding members is found in March. The species density is very uneven. Like the other islander race of common wood pigeon and some species of Macaronesia
Macaronesia
Macaronesia is a modern collective name for several groups of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean near Europe and North Africa belonging to three countries: Portugal, Spain, and Cape Verde...
n or Pacific Islands wood pigeons, the Azores has a low rate of reproduction, less than the common wood pigeon. The Azores wood pigeon lays one white egg
Egg (biology)
An egg is an organic vessel in which an embryo first begins to develop. In most birds, reptiles, insects, molluscs, fish, and monotremes, an egg is the zygote, resulting from fertilization of the ovum, which is expelled from the body and permitted to develop outside the body until the developing...
.
In 2003, seven of the nine islands of the Azores were surveyed. The survey gave density estimates of 14.52 birds/km2 on Terceira and 5.14 birds/km2 on the other six islands. Azores wood pigeon densities in the Azores were still much lower than those of the common wood pigeon in mainland Europe. Populations in the Azores may now be limited by the availability of breeding habitat and over-winter food supply. There are strong differences between wood pigeon abundance on the different islands of the archipelago, notably with densities on the island of Terceira being higher than on any of the other islands. In 1905 The German ornithologist Ernst Hartert
Ernst Hartert
Ernst Johann Otto Hartert was a German ornithologist. Hartert was born in Hamburg. He was employed by Lionel Walter Rothschild as ornithological curator of his private museum at Tring from 1892 to 1929....
identified it as a sub-species.
Azore wood pigeons play an important ecological role because they are the only birds in the area capable of eating the larger native drupe
Drupe
In botany, a drupe is a fruit in which an outer fleshy part surrounds a shell of hardened endocarp with a seed inside. These fruits develop from a single carpel, and mostly from flowers with superior ovaries...
s of laurel forest species and dispersing the seeds. Its numbers fell sharply after human colonisation of the archipelago
Archipelago
An archipelago , sometimes called an island group, is a chain or cluster of islands. The word archipelago is derived from the Greek ἄρχι- – arkhi- and πέλαγος – pélagos through the Italian arcipelago...
and it vanished altogether from some of the islands. The major cause of its population decline was habitat loss
Habitat destruction
Habitat destruction is the process in which natural habitat is rendered functionally unable to support the species present. In this process, the organisms that previously used the site are displaced or destroyed, reducing biodiversity. Habitat destruction by human activity mainly for the purpose of...
from forest clearance, but hunting and nest predation by introduced species
Introduced species
An introduced species — or neozoon, alien, exotic, non-indigenous, or non-native species, or simply an introduction, is a species living outside its indigenous or native distributional range, and has arrived in an ecosystem or plant community by human activity, either deliberate or accidental...
like rats, were also contributory factors. Any intrusion of humans or animals such as dogs and cats can cause great concern in the nesting population. The black rat
Black Rat
The black rat is a common long-tailed rodent of the genus Rattus in the subfamily Murinae . The species originated in tropical Asia and spread through the Near East in Roman times before reaching Europe by the 1st century and spreading with Europeans across the world.-Taxonomy:The black rat was...
is a species that climbs trees in search of food and assaults birds nests causing, at least, the abandonment of eggs and ruiniation of the breeding season.
Endangered
The Azores wood pigeon is endangered. Protection of the laurel forests and an effective ban on hunting could enabled numbers to increase.This species has a greater dependence on water than other species of pigeon. It inhabits beaches and islands in the evergreen broadleaf forest
Laurel forest
Laurel forest is a subtropical or mild temperate forest, found in areas with high humidity and relatively stable and mild temperatures. They are characterized by tree species with evergreen, glossy, enlongated leaves, known as laurophyll or lauroide...
, macaronesian laurisilva
Laurisilva
Laurisilva or laurissilva is a subtropical forest, found in areas with high humidity and relatively stable and mild temperatures. They are characterised by evergreen, glossy-leaved tree species that look alike with leaves of lauroide type...
, dense subtropical forest and warm temperate evergreen broadleaf forests. It is heavily dependent on a mature forest, whose seeds were dispersed by these birds. Also it feeds in pastures and farmland, in cultivated land and tilled land. It is present inland on Terceira especially on the west coast and near Lagoa da Junco. There are a few specimens in San Miguel near Lagoa Azul. The species has virtually disappeared due to de-forestation. The breeding area is found only near bodies of fresh water with dense tree cover where most couples can nest. Diet changes seasonally as the availability of fruit fluctuates. Leaves can comprise the major part of the diet at certain times of the year, especially when there is little fruit avilable. The bird browses on leaves and buds, especially during breeding. It prefers foliage and buds at the tips of the branches. They eat rounded and fleshy young leaves, leaves from Prunus
Prunus
Prunus is a genus of trees and shrubs, which includes the plums, cherries, peaches, apricots and almonds. There are around 430 species spread throughout the northern temperate regions of the globe. Many members of the genus are widely cultivated for fruit and ornament.-Botany:Members of the genus...
genus, young shoots from Asteraceae
Asteraceae
The Asteraceae or Compositae , is an exceedingly large and widespread family of vascular plants. The group has more than 22,750 currently accepted species, spread across 1620 genera and 12 subfamilies...
, Caryophyllaceae
Caryophyllaceae
The Caryophyllaceae, commonly called the pink family or carnation family, is a family of flowering plants. It is included in the dicotyledon order Caryophyllales in the APG III system, alongside 33 other families, including Amaranthaceae, Cactaceae and Polygonaceae...
, and Brassicaceae
Brassicaceae
Brassicaceae, a medium sized and economically important family of flowering plants , are informally known as the mustards, mustard flowers, the crucifers or the cabbage family....
(Cruciferae).
Taxonomy
The genus ColumbaColumba (genus)
The large bird genus Columba comprises a group of medium to large stout-bodied pigeons, often referred to as the typical pigeons. The terms "dove" and "pigeon" are used indiscriminately for smaller and larger Columbidae, respectively...
is the largest within the pigeon family, and has the widest distribution. Its members are typically pale grey or brown, often with white head or neck markings or iridescent green or purple patches on the neck and breast. The neck feathers may be stiffened and aligned to form grooves. One of several subgroups within Columba consists of the widespread Eurasian Common Wood Pigeon, Bolle's Pigeon, the Trocaz Pigeon, and the African Afep Pigeon
Afep Pigeon
The Afep Pigeon also known as the African Wood-Pigeon, or Gray Wood-Pigeon is a member of the Columbidae family which lives in Africa.Like many other pigeons, it mainly feeds on grain and seeds....
. Two Macaronesia
Macaronesia
Macaronesia is a modern collective name for several groups of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean near Europe and North Africa belonging to three countries: Portugal, Spain, and Cape Verde...
n endemic pigeons, Bolle's and Trocaz, are thought to be derived from isolated island populations of C. palumbus.
The Atlantic archipelagos of the Canary Islands
Canary Islands
The Canary Islands , also known as the Canaries , is a Spanish archipelago located just off the northwest coast of mainland Africa, 100 km west of the border between Morocco and the Western Sahara. The Canaries are a Spanish autonomous community and an outermost region of the European Union...
, Azores, and Madeira
Madeira
Madeira is a Portuguese archipelago that lies between and , just under 400 km north of Tenerife, Canary Islands, in the north Atlantic Ocean and an outermost region of the European Union...
have a volcanic origin and they have never been part of a continent. At various times in the past, the major islands of these archipelagos were all colonised by ancestral wood pigeons, which evolved on their respective islands in isolation from the mainland populations. One of these, was the lineage of extinct species laurel forest
Laurel forest
Laurel forest is a subtropical or mild temperate forest, found in areas with high humidity and relatively stable and mild temperatures. They are characterized by tree species with evergreen, glossy, enlongated leaves, known as laurophyll or lauroide...
mountain pigeon or Azores black pigeon . Mitochondrial
Mitochondrion
In cell biology, a mitochondrion is a membrane-enclosed organelle found in most eukaryotic cells. These organelles range from 0.5 to 1.0 micrometers in diameter...
and nuclear
Cell nucleus
In cell biology, the nucleus is a membrane-enclosed organelle found in eukaryotic cells. It contains most of the cell's genetic material, organized as multiple long linear DNA molecules in complex with a large variety of proteins, such as histones, to form chromosomes. The genes within these...
DNA sequence
DNA sequence
The sequence or primary structure of a nucleic acid is the composition of atoms that make up the nucleic acid and the chemical bonds that bond those atoms. Because nucleic acids, such as DNA and RNA, are unbranched polymers, this specification is equivalent to specifying the sequence of...
s suggest that the ancestor of Bolle's Pigeon may have arrived in the Canary Islands about 5 mya, but an older lineage that gave rise to another Canarian endemic, the Laurel Pigeon
Laurel Pigeon
The Laurel Pigeon, White-tailed Laurel Pigeon, Paloma rabiche, is a species of bird in the Columba genus in the Columbidae family. It is a member of the family Columbidae of doves and pigeons, which is endemic to the Canary Islands, Spain...
, C. junoniae, may date from 20 mya.
The Trocaz Pigeon
Trocaz Pigeon
The Trocaz Pigeon, Madeira Laurel Pigeon or Long-toed Pigeon is a pigeon which is endemic to the island of Madeira. It is a mainly grey bird with a pinkish breast; its silvery neck patch and lack of white wing markings distinguish it from its close relative and probable ancestor, the Common Wood...
was recognised as a different species from the other local form, the now-extinct Madeiran Wood Pigeon
Madeiran Wood Pigeon
The Madeiran Wood Pigeon was an endemic subspecies of the Wood Pigeon for Madeira . This Wood Pigeon is endemic to the Laurel forest habitat....
, the two local pigeons never interbred or habitually associated together. The Trocaz pigeon is a monotypic species, although in the past Bolle's Pigeon was sometimes regarded as a subspecies
Subspecies
Subspecies in biological classification, is either a taxonomic rank subordinate to species, ora taxonomic unit in that rank . A subspecies cannot be recognized in isolation: a species will either be recognized as having no subspecies at all or two or more, never just one...
of the Trocaz Pigeon.
The most recent common wood pigeon arrival was that from European or African sub-species which gave rise to the subspecies C. palumbus maderensis, on Madeira and Columba palumbus azorica in Azores islands.