Ryukyu Wood Pigeon

The silver band pigeon ( Columba jouyi ), also known as Riu -Kiu pigeon, is an extinct pigeon which in the dense forests of the Ryukyu Island chain ( obsolete: Riukiu ) was endemic. The specific epithet refers to the ornithologists and bird collector Pierre Louis Jouy.

Description

The silver band pigeon reached a length of 45 centimeters. The plumage was generally slate black. Head, neck, upper back and flanks had a purple sheen. The lower back had a metallic- green shimmer. About his shoulders was a light gray crescent- shaped band. The feet were purple. The beak was green with a bright blue top.

Dissemination

The distribution related to several islands in the Ryukyu chain of islands, including Iheya -jima, Izena -jima, Okinawa Honto, Yagaji Jima, Kerama Islands, Zamami- jima and Ie- jima and Kita- Daitō and Minami- Daitō in the Daitō Islands.

Way of life

Information about their way of life are not known. Comparisons with their living relatives suggest that they fed on fruits, seeds, buds and Neuaustrieben.

Extinction

As a result of habitat destruction, over-hunting and predation by invasive predators the species was already gone in 1904 by Okinawa Honto. On the Daitō Islands it was last collected in 1936. During an expedition in 1945, she could no longer be detected. The type specimen from 1887 is located in the National Museum of Nature and Science in Tokyo, three additional copies are kept in the Yamashina Institute for Ornithology.