Spotted Green Pigeon

Caloenas maculata on a board of the Bulletin of the Liverpool Museum

The Liverpool Pigeon ( Caloenas maculata ) is an extinct pigeon, whose origin is still unknown.

Description

The Liverpool pigeon was first mentioned in drive A General Synopsis of Birds ( 1783) by John Latham and described in 1789 by Johann Friedrich Gmelin. It reached a size of 32 centimeters. The wing length was given as 175 mm, tail length 126 mm, the beak First with 20 mm and the batch of 33 mm. The plumage was deep bottle green with a few elongated feathers around the neck. The swing and the back feathers were sprinkled with a cream-colored sequin pattern. The tail had a cream-colored terminal band. Legs and feet were reddish. At the beak base a bump was visible. The Liverpool Pigeon had short rounded wings. Due to the elongated neck feathers she was considered by John Latham as relatives of the mane dove ( Caloenas nicobarica ). Lord Walter Rothschild saw her even one abnormal copy of the mane dove, so that subsequent authors of this taxon ignored for a long time. Aside from the neck feathers but the Liverpool pigeon showed no resemblance to the mane dove.

Status

Origin and causes of extinction are unknown. Hypotheses go in the direction that the way from the Pacific could come as traditions of Tahitians from 1928 describe a green-white speckled bird called titi who might be after assumption of the ornithologist David Gibbs ( 2001) this type have been. 1851 was a juvenile specimen in the collection of the 13th Earl of Derby to Knowsley Hall and is now in the World Museum Liverpool. A second specimen, which was collected 1783-1823, has been lost. In 2008, the Liverpool Pigeon BirdLife International has been added to the list of extinct bird species.