White-fronted Ground Dove

The Ponape Ground Dove ( Gallicolumba kubaryi ), also called Caroline Pigeon, is a species of pigeons birds. It comes exclusively on the island of Pohnpei before (until 1990 known as Ponape ) and the Chuuk island group. The Ponape Ground Dove is classified by the IUCN as endangered ( vulnerable ) because their range is very small and the population numbers decline due to deforestation and hunting. The population is estimated to be less than a total of 1,000 individuals.

Appearance

The Ponape Ground Dove reaches a body length of 26 centimeters. It is slightly smaller than a turtle dove, but has the characteristic body shape of the Earth Dove on. The Ponape Ground Dove is similar to the Jobitaube very strong. However, it has longer legs than this species, which also belongs to the genus of Indo-Pacific Earth Dove.

In the male the head and chest are white. The back of the head, the neck and a line behind the eyes are black. The rest of the body plumage is black. The body and wing coverts have a shiny reddish brown shimmer. The abdomen is black. The beak is very dark gray. The legs are red. Juveniles are dark brown. The springs have with them even orange-brown hems.

Habitat, population and lifestyle

The number of individuals of Ponape Ground Dove has never been very high, at least in historical times. The stock of Ponape Ground Dove was still estimated a few years ago to more than 1,000 individuals and was considered stable. Thus, the population was on Pohnpei 1983/1984 nor 841 Ponape Earth Dove and on Chuuk came in the same period before 294 pigeons of this kind. Contrast, younger population studies showed a significant population decline. On Pohnpei, the type only occurs in mangrove swamps.

The preferred habitat on Pohnpei are actually shrub -lined gorges, forests of the lowlands and mangroves. In the forests of the interior Ponape Earth Dove were always rare. The Ponape Ground Dove lives normally solitary. Their diet they examined on the ground. The nest consists of a single egg.