From Opus

Treron vernans

Photo by Laurence Poh

Location: Ipoh, Malaysia. The male is on the right; the female on the left.

Identification

Male: combination of Grey head and throat, pinkish purple upper breast and neck, and orange lower breast diagnostic. Mantle and wing covert apple green; under tall covert chestnut. Female: uniform green plumage with yellow tinge on belly; thighs mixed dark green aria yellow; under tail covert pale cinnamon.. Size 10 inches, 25 cm.

Distribution

The Pink-necked Green-pigeon (Treron vernans) is a species of bird in the Columbidae family. It is found in Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.

Taxonomy

Habitat

Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical mangrove forests, and subtropical or tropical moist montanes. They prefer habitats with trees that provide fruits as well as a safe perch including mangroves, scrub, secondary forest, forest edge.

Behaviour

Pink-necked Green Pigeons eat mainly fruits. Their colourful attire allows them to blend perfectly in the foliage of fruiting trees. Figs are their favourite, but they also eat palm fruit and berries, and nibble on buds. Like other Green Pigeons, they are arboreal and seldom come the ground except to drink, although they may snack on berries of low bushes.

Pink-necked Green Pigeons forage most actively in the early morning. Although they may feed in flocks of up to 30 in a fruiting tree, males especially may defend small patches from others in the flock. Pink-necked Green Pigeons tend to roost together and a site may attract hundreds of birds from a wide area and become a traditional roost. Favoured roosting sites are tall trees in swamps and mangroves. But they nest alone and not in large colonies.

Breeding (late March to late July): The male Pink-necked is very handsome and colourful. The duller female is easily confused with those of other Green Pigeons and is best identified by her male consort who is usually nearby.

Like other pigeons, the nest is a flimsy platform of twigs. About 15-20 cm in diameter, and so thin that sometimes the contents can be seen from below! The male collects the nesting material and passes these on to the female to assemble. Pairs nest alone, preferring spots near open spaces, in bushes as low as 2m off the ground and up to 10m high in trees and palms. Thus, pigeons and doves can feed their young without having to incessantly hunt or forage for food. Instead of laying many eggs, they lay one or at most two eggs. Their abundance is proof that this feature gives them the advantage. 1-2 white eggs are laid. Both parents take turns incubating them and both raise the young. Fledglings may remain near the nest for up to 1 week.

External Links

• View more images of this species on Orientalbirdimages