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Vocabulary Word: clutch
Physical Appearance: As the name suggests, the
pink pigeon has light pink feathers, brown wings, dark pink bill, legs
and feet with a dark brown tail. Gerald Durrell once described pink pigeons.
"The colors seen closely, even in artificial light, were vivid and beautiful: the pale chocolates of the wings and the back, the rusty, almost fox-red of the tail and rump, and then the broad-breast, neck and head, pale gray flushed with cyclamen-pink overtones. It was a beautiful bird." (Excerpted from Golden Bats and Pink Pigeons, pg 52, 1977)
Reproduction: The breeding season lasts from December to September. The size of the clutch (nest of eggs) is one or two white eggs with an incubation of 14 days. Both parents take part in nest building, incubation and child rearing.
Diet: The flowers, fruits, buds, leaves, and seeds of native and exotic vegetation forms the pink pigeons diet.
Predators:The black rat (Rattus rattus) and the macaque (Macaca fascicularis) are the main predators of pink pigeons.
Geographic Range: The pink pigeon is limited to the
island of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean.
Biomes:Sub-tropical evergreen forest
Habitat: The Black River Gorge area of Mauritius, the southwest region of the island
IUCN Status: Endangered In 1993, the wild population was estimated at 21 birds. In 1976 the Jersey Wildlife Preservation Trust initiated a captive breeding program in Mauritius, the United States and Europe. The captive pink pigeon population is about 180 birds.
Threats to Survival:Predation by non-native animals like macaques (Macaca fascicularis), feral cats (Felis catus)and black rats (Rattus rattus) threaten the existence of pink pigeons. Conservation efforts include curbing populations of these non-native animals.
©2000
The Wild Ones
c/o Wildlife Trust
61 Route 9W, Palisades, NY 10964-8000
Tel: 845.365.8337 Fax: 845.365.8177