Common Bronzewing
Encyclopedia
The Common Bronzewing is a species of medium-sized, heavily built pigeon. Native to Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

 and one of the country's most common pigeons, the Common Bronzewing is able to live in almost any habitat, with the possible exception of very barren areas and dense rainforest
Rainforest
Rainforests are forests characterized by high rainfall, with definitions based on a minimum normal annual rainfall of 1750-2000 mm...

s.

Description

Male
Male
Male refers to the biological sex of an organism, or part of an organism, which produces small mobile gametes, called spermatozoa. Each spermatozoon can fuse with a larger female gamete or ovum, in the process of fertilization...

s of the species have pale-yellow to yellow-white foreheads, and pink breasts. Both males and female
Female
Female is the sex of an organism, or a part of an organism, which produces non-mobile ova .- Defining characteristics :The ova are defined as the larger gametes in a heterogamous reproduction system, while the smaller, usually motile gamete, the spermatozoon, is produced by the male...

s have an easily discernible white line around and close to their eyes. Common Bronzewings also have patches of red, blue and green on their wings, a feature which is characteristic of all bronzewing pigeon
Bronzewing pigeon
The bronzewing pigeons are a group of pigeons native to Australia which have distinctive iridescent wing patches that appear bronze or green-brown in dull light, but flash in many bright colours in the sun as the bird moves....

s. Young birds are usually duller in colour and browner than the mature Common Bronzewing.

Rarely found far from a source of water, Common Bronzewings either travel alone or in pairs or in flocks, and are usually cautious, making approach by humans or other animals difficult.
Common Bronzewings are, on average, between 30 and 36 centimetres (12–14 in) in length.

Feeding

The Common Bronzewing's diet primarily consists of seed
Seed
A seed is a small embryonic plant enclosed in a covering called the seed coat, usually with some stored food. It is the product of the ripened ovule of gymnosperm and angiosperm plants which occurs after fertilization and some growth within the mother plant...

s and all varieties of vegetable
Vegetable
The noun vegetable usually means an edible plant or part of a plant other than a sweet fruit or seed. This typically means the leaf, stem, or root of a plant....

s. It searches for food in small groups. The search can sometimes last for days, and, since the pigeon must drink frequently, it utilizes watering holes or any other available source of water.

Breeding

Common Bronzewings construct a rough nest of twigs and sticks, which is placed low down in a tree or bush. The eggs hatch after a period of roughly 14 to 16 days, after being incubated by both the male and the female. Both parents share the responsibility of caring for the young. In common with other pigeons, Common Bronzewings release a milky substance from their crop
Crop (anatomy)
A crop is a thin-walled expanded portion of the alimentary tract used for the storage of food prior to digestion that is found in many animals, including gastropods, earthworms, leeches, insects, birds, and even some dinosaurs.- Bees :Cropping is used by bees to temporarily store nectar of flowers...

to feed their young.
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