The Comoro olive pigeon (''Columba pollenii''), also known as the Comoros Rameron pigeon or simply the Comoro pigeon, is a species of

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...

in the family

Columbidae Columbidae is a bird Family (biology), family consisting of doves and pigeons. It is the only family in the Order (biology), order Columbiformes. These are stout-bodied birds with small heads, relatively short necks and slender bills that in ...

. It is found in

Comoros The Comoros, officially the Union of the Comoros, is an archipelagic country made up of three islands in Southeastern Africa, located at the northern end of the Mozambique Channel in the Indian Ocean. Its capital and largest city is Moroni, ...

and

Mayotte Mayotte ( ; , ; , ; , ), officially the Department of Mayotte (), is an Overseas France, overseas Overseas departments and regions of France, department and region and single territorial collectivity of France. It is one of the Overseas departm ...

. It is becoming rare due to

habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss or habitat reduction) occurs when a natural habitat is no longer able to support its native species. The organisms once living there have either moved elsewhere, or are dead, leading to a decrease ...

Description

Easily distinguishable from other pigeon species, the Comoros olive pigeon is the largest bird in the

Comoro Islands The Comoro Islands are a group of volcanic islands in the Mozambique Channel, an arm of the Indian Ocean lying between Madagascar and the African mainland. Three of the islands form the Union of the Comoros, a sovereign nation, while Mayotte bel ...

. It has a dark

plumage Plumage () is a layer of feathers that covers a bird and the pattern, colour, and arrangement of those feathers. The pattern and colours of plumage differ between species and subspecies and may vary with age classes. Within species, there can b ...

. Adolescent pigeons have a bright yellow bill, whereas older ones have a dull green or brown bill. The Comoros olive pigeon makes a very deep coo of "guk-ohoooo hoo hooo".

Habitat

Its natural

habitat In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species' habitat can be seen as the physical manifestation of its ...

is subtropical or tropical moist

montane forest Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures lapse rate, fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is ...

s and it can be found in

(especially

Mount Karthala Mount Karthala or Karthola ( ''Al Qirṭālah'') is an active volcano and the highest point of the Comoros at above sea level. It is the southernmost and larger of the two shield volcanoes forming Grande Comore island, the largest island in the ...

) and

, with a higher-density population being observed in the latter.

Status

Although described as locally common in parts of Grand Comoro, the Comoros olive pigeon is in general a fairly scarce bird with a small total population. The chief threat it faces is the clearance of the forest habitat in which it lives, but it is also hunted on each of the four islands on which it is found. The population trend is unknown, but the total population is probably fewer than 10,000 individuals, and the

International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the stat ...

has assessed its conservation status as "

near threatened A near-threatened species is a species which has been Conservation status, categorized as "Near Threatened" (NT) by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as that may be vulnerable to Endangered species, endangerment in the ne ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q257710

Comoros olive pigeon The Comoro olive pigeon (''Columba pollenii''), also known as the Comoros Rameron pigeon or simply the Comoro pigeon, is a species of bird in the family Columbidae. It is found in Comoros and Mayotte. It is becoming rare due to habitat loss. Des ...

Endemic birds of the Comoros Birds of Mayotte

Taxonomy articles created by Polbot