Pompadour green pigeon

Distribution and habitat

It is a widespread group in forests of tropical southern Asia from India, Sri Lanka east to the Philippines and the Moluccas. In India, they are found as disjunct populations in the Western Ghats, some parts of the Eastern Ghats, Northeastern India and in the Andaman Islands.

Taxonomy

The distribution of the pompadour green pigeon is peculiarly disjunct and several are distinctive, leading many authorities to split it into six species:

• Sri Lanka green pigeon (Treron pompadora) from Sri Lanka. Monotypic.
• Grey-fronted green pigeon (Treron affinis) from the Western Ghats in India. Monotypic.
• Andaman green pigeon (Treron chloropterus) from the Andamans and Nicobars. Monotypic.
• Ashy-headed green pigeon (Treron phayrei) from northeast India and Nepal, east to Yunnan in China, and south through Indochina (north of the Isthmus of Kra). Commonly considered monotypic, though some recognize the subspecies conoveri.
• Philippine green pigeon (Treron axillaris) from the Philippines. Includes the subspecies amadoni, canescens and everetti.
• Buru green pigeon (Treron aromaticus) from small islands in the Flores Sea and Buru, Indonesia. Monotypic.

Description

The pompadour green pigeon complex are all stocky, medium-sized pigeons, 25 to in length, with some significantly larger than others (e.g., chloropterus is significantly larger than birds from the Asian mainland). Furthermore, males of aromaticus and some members of the axillaris group have a grey band above the mantle.

The legs are reddish in most birds, but grey in the axillaris group. The eyes are maroon-red or deep to very light blue (depends on subspecies), and the bill is whitish-grey with a dull, pale greenish or bluish base, except in the axillaris group where the base is red. File:TreronPhayrei.jpg|T. phayrei (male above, female below) File:OsmotreronAromaticaKeulemans.jpg|T. aromaticus (male in foreground, female behind) File:OsmotreronAxillaris.jpg|T. axillaris (male in foreground, female behind) File:Thimindu 2009 12 31 Kaudulla Pompadour Green Pigeon 2.jpg|T. pompadora (male) File:Treron pompadora affinis.JPG|T. affinis (male)

Behaviour

All species of the pompadour green pigeon complex usually occur singly or in small groups. Flight is fast and direct, with the regular beats and an occasional sharp flick of the wings that are characteristic of pigeons in general. They eat the seeds and fruits of a wide variety of plants. They build a stick nest in a tree and lay two white eggs.

References

References

1. BirdLife International. (2024). "''Treron pompadora''".
2. Gill, F., and D. Donsker (Eds). 2010. ''[http://www.worldbirdnames.org/ IOC World Bird Names.]'' Version 2.6. Accessed 18 November 2010.
3. (2012). "Birds of South Asia. The Ripley Guide". Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History and Lynx Edicions.
4. Gibbs, D.. (2001). "Pigeons and Doves: A Guide to the Pigeons and Doves of the World". Pica Press.