Treron riukiuensis (1 Viewer)

[Daniel Philippe]

In his recent book (Birds of East Asia), Mark Brazil gives this name as the scientific name for the Ryukyu Green Pigeon.

I thought it was Treron (formosae) permagnus.

Where does this name come from ?

 

[Richard Klim]

I haven't encountered the name Treron riukiuensis before, and there's no mention of it on John Penhallurick's World Bird Info site, but a quick Google reveals this site also using it:
http://www.japanbirdwatching.com/birds/birdlist

[Of interest, the site also lists Spilornis perplexus and Ficedula owstoni as Japanese endemic species - not usually recognised elsewhere.]

The only riukiuensis that I'm aware of is Cettia diphone riukiuensis.

Richard

Edit: It's curious that Brazil actually describes the usually recognised subspecies (permagnus & medioximus). So unless riukiuensis is a synonym of permagnus, the only other possibility would be a third (and senior, therefore nominate) Ryukyu subspecies, now extinct...???

 

[Daniel Philippe]

It's curious that Brazil actually describes the usually recognised subspecies (permagnus & medioximus).

I checked all my Japanese field guides :

- A field guide to the Birds of Japan by the Wild Bird Society of Japan (1990) – in English
- The Birds of Japan by Mark Brazil (1991) – in English
- Wild birds of Japan : a photographic guide by Takuya Kanouchi, Naoya Abe and Hideo Ueda (1998) – in Japanese
- Birds of Japan (water birds) by Masashi Kirihara, Norio Yamagata and Toshiyuki Yoshino (2000) – in Japanese
- Birds of Japan (other wild birds) by Himaru Yozawa, Norio Yamagata and Toshiyuki Yoshino (2000) – in Japanese

and did not find this name anywhere. So I think it is something rather new and this could be explained by the fact that we only find it on the Japanbirdwatching website (Japanese creation ?).

So unless riukiuensis is a synonym of permagnus, the only other possibility would be a third (and senior, therefore nominate) Ryukyu subspecies, now extinct...???

But we already have permagnus in N Ryukyu and medioximus in S Ryukyu islands. The possibility for another "extinct" taxon in this archipelago is remote.

 

[Richard Klim]

I checked all my Japanese field guides and did not find this name anywhere.

Yes, I checked all of those too. And likewise there's no mention in Shimba 2007 (A Photographic Guide to the Birds of Japan & North-east Asia), Gibbs et al 2001 (Pigeons & Doves), or HBW.

Richard

 

[mb1848]

Maybe riukiuensis is what the locals use when they cannot tell if it is a female T. permagnus, type locality Okinawa-shima, or T. medioximus type locality Ishigaki Island?

 

[Mark Bruce]

There's nothing in Wu et al 1991 (in Mandarin) on riukiuensis or in any of the other Chinese-language papers or guides I have. I've also checked MacKinnon's Birds of China and then Kennedy's Birds of the Philippines and there's nothing in those, too. I've gone back in all my old Ibis journals to 1863 when Swinhoe first described T.formosae. Hachisuka & Udagawa 1951 give a summary of all the early Formosan records from Swinhoe through to its status as it was in 1951. There is no mention of riukiuensis in their work.Hachisuka & Udagawa place formosae as a race of T.sieboldii. I've e-mailed Dr Lin Reuy-shing at the Taiwan Endemic Species Research Institute to ask him if he knows anything. He was Brazil's main Taiwan contact and with T.formosae being a near endemic and limited range species they should have a good idea of the races.

 

[Mark Bruce]

Collar in Birding Asia 2 only mentions 4 races:

Nominate formosae is very and fairly distinct from the northern and southern Ryukyu races respectively, and its separation at species level may be appropriate; this needs urgent investigation.....and a split into two species would probably upgrade both to a higher category of threat (but it is uncertain whether the southern Ryukyu race would belong with its northern or southern neighbour).​

 

[Richard Klim]

In his recent book (Birds of East Asia), Mark Brazil gives this name as the scientific name for the Ryukyu Green Pigeon.
I thought it was Treron (formosae) permagnus.

Corrected to Treron permagnus in 2nd Printing:
sites.google.com/site/birdsofeastasia/Home/birds-of-east-asia-updates