Liverpool Pigeon

Taxobox
name = Liverpool Pigeon
status = EX
status_system = IUCN3.1


image_width =
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Aves
ordo = Columbiformes
familia = Columbidae
genus = "Caloenas"
genus_authority = G. R. Gray, 1840
species = "C. maculata"
binomial = "Caloenas maculata"
binomial_authority = Gmelin, 1789The Liverpool Pigeon ("Caloenas maculata") is a presumed extinct pigeon species from an unknown provenance. [Fuller (2000). p174-175]

Description

The Liverpool Pigeon was first mentioned in the work "A General Synopsis of Birds" (1783) by John Latham and scientifically named by Johann Friedrich Gmelin in 1789. It reached a size of 32 centimetres. The wing length was 175 mm, the tail length was 126 mm, the culmen was 20 mm and the tarsus was measured with 33 mm. The plumage was deep bottle green. The neck was characterized by elongated feathers. The wing and back feathers were spangled cream coloured. The terminal band of the tail was cream coloured too. Legs and feet were reddish. On the base of the beak was a knob. The Liverpool Pigeon had short rounded wings. On basis of the elongated neck feathers John Latham assumed a relationship with the Nicobar Pigeon and Lord Rothschild regarded it as just an aberrant specimen of the Nicobar Pigeon. It was probably Rothschild's influence that the Liverpool Pigeon was often overlooked by subsequent authors. Notwithstanding the Liverpool Pigeon was very different to the Nicobar Pigeon. [Fuller (2000). p174-175]

tatus

The provenance and the reasons for its extinction remained unknown. Ornithologist David Gibbs (2001) hypothesized that this bird might have collected on a Pacific island because stories told by Tahitian islanders in 1928 about a mysterious green and white spotted bird called "titi" might well have been about this pigeon. [Gibbs et al.(2001)] . However, paleontologist David Steadman revised this hypothesis and stated that the name "titi" is used for several bird species in French Polynesia in particular for the procellariids. [ [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3793/is_200110/ai_n8963045 Review by David William Steadman for the book "Pigeons and Doves" by David Gibbs et. al.] ] In 1851, a juvenile specimen came into the museum collection of the Earl of Derby in Knowsley Hall which is now on display in the Merseyside County Museum in Liverpool. A second specimen which was collected between 1783 and 1823 is lost. BirdLife International added the Liverpool Pigeon to the list of extinct bird species in 2008. [ [http://www.birdlife.org/action/science/species/global_species_programme/whats_new.html BirdLife International Whats new (2008)] ]

Notes

References

*David Gibbs, Eustace Barnes & John Cox: "Pigeons and Doves. A Guide to the Pigeons and Doves of the World". Robertsbridge, UK: Pica Press, 2001. ISBN 1873403607
*Errol Fuller: "Extinct Birds". Oxford University Press, 2000. ISBN 0-8160-1833-2.

External links

* [http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/species/index.html?action=SpcHTMDetails.asp&sid=32369&m=0 BirdLife species factsheet]