Pale Mountain Pigeon
The Pale Mountain Pigeon ( Gymnophaps solomonensis ), also called Malaitataube, is a species of pigeons birds. It is found only in some Southeast Asian islands.
Appearance
The Pale Mountain Pigeon reaches a body length of about 38 centimeters. In its shape and its size, it has similarities to the Alberti dust, which also belongs to the genre of mountain pigeons. Unlike the latter, their wings are longer and not run out quite as sharp. The Pale Mountain Pigeon also has a slightly longer tail. Similarity also exists for Solomon Islands crested pigeon, which occurs in the same habitat, but one of the long-tailed pigeons. The Solomon crested pigeon differs inter alia by a Crest. She lives differently than the Pale Mountain Pigeon solitary or in pairs.
The head and chest are pale ashen. Throat and upper chest are white. The belly is up to the under tail-coverts reddish tinge darker and in some individuals. The body top is smoke gray. The feathers of the mantle and wing coverts are dark lined, so that it acts scaled in these parts of the body a little. The dark circles are large, featherless and red. The iris is orange. The beak is yellow at the base and towards the tip goes into a brown. The feet are reddish.
Distribution and habitat
The Pale Mountain Pigeon is an endemic species of the Solomon Islands. It occurs on Bougainville, Kolombangara, Vangunu, Guadalcanal and Malaita. Your breeding grounds are exclusively mountain forests. She uses this altitudes between 500 and at least 1,565 meters above sea level. After food -seeking Pale Mountain Pigeon but also come to the lowlands.
Behavior
Much like the dove of the Pale Mountain Pigeon Alberti is often seen in small groups. The size of these flocks is usually 20 individuals. It also swarms with more than a hundred Pale were observed mountain pigeons. It is a fruit -eating pigeon, which usually finds its food in treetops. They are characterized by clapping airplane noises when startled. Very little is known about the breeding biology. Two nests were found on Kolombangara, were merely shallow depressions that were on very strong diameter horizontal branches three feet above the ground level. Each of the nests found contained a white egg.