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Green Pigeon id request Sri Lanka (1 Viewer)

Earnest lad

Well-known member
Dear colleagues
Sorry to trouble you. I have a distant photo of a bird .
The attached photo was taken in the Uda Walawe National Park in Sri Lanka
It is a distant shot of a pigeon - one of the green pigeon species .
I understand there are three species of green pigeon that it could be.
Namely :

Pompadour Green Pigeon
Orange-breasted Green Pigeon
Sri Lankan Green Pigeon.

I know this is a difficult one but please can anyone advise which one the photo could be of. If I can nail it down it will be a lifer for me.

I understand that the most common green pigeon at this location is the Orange-breasted, but one would want to identify the bird on its own appearance if you know what I mean.

Please can anyone with more experience or expertise than me see any pointers in the picture that would make an id possible?
 
No experience with the species, but the apparently darkish undertail coverts would favour Orange-breasted over Sri Lanka (Pompadour) Green Pigeon.
As far as I understand it, Pompadour and Sri Lanka are the same species, Sri Lanka treated as a subspecies of Pompadour (Treron pompadora pompadora) or a distinct species according to the author.
Only 2 green pigeons possible there (plus Yellow-footed), according to Birds of Sri Lanka (Helm).
 
Dear Rafael
Thank you for your informative and helpful answer which gives me some scope for more research and maybe the chance to get to a conclusion on this matter.
I didnt realize the point you made about the two being the same. You've cleared that confusion up for me.
With best wishes
Ian
 
No experience with the species, but the apparently darkish undertail coverts would favour Orange-breasted over Sri Lanka (Pompadour) Green Pigeon.
As far as I understand it, Pompadour and Sri Lanka are the same species, Sri Lanka treated as a subspecies of Pompadour (Treron pompadora pompadora) or a distinct species according to the author.
Only 2 green pigeons possible there (plus Yellow-footed), according to Birds of Sri Lanka (Helm).

It's split by numerous authors AFAIK including the IOC where the name Pompadour, isn't used at all now.

Sri lanka Green Pigeon Treron pompadora

Grey-fronted Green Pigeon Treron affinis Southern India

Ashy-fronted Green Pigeon Treron phayrei SE Asia, China, Indonesia.


A
 
Cheers.
I've brighten up considerably your original photo, and the undertail coverts are visibly of a shade of orange (definitely not the pale yellowish of Sri Lanka Green Pigeon); the purplish colour of the feet is visible as well as the pale lower belly, which means the darker, orangy, undertail coverts are not a photo artifact.
 

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Thank you Rafael - that's very interesting.
Thanks too Andy that is most enlightening.

Does this pale yellow belly on the bird I saw give us a basis for a diagnosis or does the other species also have a pale yellow belly

Please do you know what colour the legs would be on the Pompadour/Sri Lankan?

I checked by google images but I wasnt able to arrive at a conclusion thus far.
Some Pompadour seem to have darkish under tail coverts-not all have the yellow ones.

One image I found is attached which could be instructive

Your further comments would be much appreciated please
 

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Perhaps someone who's experienced with Sri Lankan species could give an opinion, which would be no doubt more valuable than mine. Perhaps I was being too optimistic about the ID from that photo, but it would be interesting to get someone else's opinion.
Meanwhile, I was trawling through Oriental Bird Club images, for "Pompadour Pigeons" from Sri Lanka. I think the nominate Pompadour (now Sri Lanka Green Pigeon Treron pompadora, per IOC) has always pale undertail coverts (can be spotted). It's the "Pompadour Pigeons" belonging to one of the other subspecies (from the mainland), now considered different species as per Andy's post above, that have the rufous undertail (males of T. phayrei, for example).
Here's some pics of Sri Lanka Green Pigeon:
http://orientalbirdimages.org/search.php?Bird_ID=756&Bird_Image_ID=134711
http://orientalbirdimages.org/search.php?Bird_ID=756&Bird_Image_ID=110071
http://orientalbirdimages.org/search.php?Bird_ID=756&Bird_Image_ID=107528
http://orientalbirdimages.org/search.php?Bird_ID=756&Bird_Image_ID=107527
http://orientalbirdimages.org/search.php?Bird_ID=756&Bird_Image_ID=105234
http://orientalbirdimages.org/search.php?Bird_ID=756&Bird_Image_ID=100902

Just for completeness sake, here's one Pompadour GP of ssp. phayrei (or Treron phayrei), which does not occur in Sri Lanka: http://orientalbirdimages.org/search.php?Bird_ID=756&Bird_Image_ID=105416
And one of ssp. affinis (or Treron affinis, also not in SL): http://orientalbirdimages.org/search.php?Bird_ID=756&Bird_Image_ID=104699
These 2 taxa do not occur in Sri Lanka and are the only ones from the "Pompadour Pigeon complex" that do show rufous undertail.
The question is: can we be sure from your photo that the undertail is rufous or not? If yes, then it's an Orange-breasted GP, if not it's Sri Lanka GP (Pompadour complex).

PS: I mentioned leg colour on a post above just to make the point that real colour is still present on your bird despite the agressive image treatment. It has no value for ID.
 
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Dear Rafael
Thank you for these .
I shall scrutinize them .
Please do you know whether
(a) the colour of the lower and upper breast of the bird suggest anything us here
(my own colour perception is defective as I understand is 1 in 10 of the male of the human population)

(b) does the head colour provide any clues.

(c) is the pale yellow lower belly as seen in my photo indicative of anything

Based on your helpful comments so far my feeling that it is an Orange-breasted Green Pigeon is strengthened, although so far not conclusively.
 
I'd very extremely cautious to try and squeeze more info from your photo than it's been done already and especially in terms of colours, given its quality is not the best. I focused on the undertail coverts because that seemed to me the most obvious feature in terms of contrast (you wouldn't need to rely so much on real colour). I totally agree it's difficult to be conclusive here.
I'm sure someone experienced with Sri Lankan green pigeons will give an opinion soon, probably to say I got it all wrong! ;)
 
Dear Rafael
I take note of your wise comments.
I expect this one will remain a "possible" or even a "probable".
I will try and find out if both species are normally present at the location in question.
With best wishes
Ian
 
Thank you Rafael - that's very interesting.
Thanks too Andy that is most enlightening.

Does this pale yellow belly on the bird I saw give us a basis for a diagnosis or does the other species also have a pale yellow belly

Please do you know what colour the legs would be on the Pompadour/Sri Lankan?

I checked by google images but I wasnt able to arrive at a conclusion thus far.
Some Pompadour seem to have darkish under tail coverts-not all have the yellow ones.

One image I found is attached which could be instructive

Your further comments would be much appreciated please

You do know that image is a painting?


A
 
We only had Sri Lankan Green-Pigeon in the higher forested areas, ie Sinharaja, and had Orange-bellies by the bucketload in Udawalawe whilst we were there in '15. OB for me
 
I saw both at Udawalawe. They're found in similar habitat but SLGP is less common. I would slightly favour Orange-breasted as it appears to have a grey nape. I can't make anything out on the undertail-coverts.
 
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