The topknot pigeon (''Lopholaimus antarcticus'') is a
pigeon
Columbidae () is a bird family consisting of doves and pigeons. It is the only family in the order Columbiformes. These are stout-bodied birds with short necks and short slender bills that in some species feature fleshy ceres. They primarily ...
native to eastern
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
.
Taxonomy
English naturalist
George Shaw George Shaw may refer to:
* George Shaw (biologist) (1751–1813), English botanist and zoologist
* George B. Shaw (1854–1894), U.S. Representative from Wisconsin
* George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950), Irish playwright
* George C. Shaw (1866–196 ...
described the topknot pigeon as ''Columba antarctica'' in 1793.
The topknot pigeon is
sister taxon
In phylogenetics, a sister group or sister taxon, also called an adelphotaxon, comprises the closest relative(s) of another given unit in an evolutionary tree.
Definition
The expression is most easily illustrated by a cladogram:
Taxon A and t ...
to a lineage that gave rise to the
mountain pigeons (''Gymnophaps'') of New Guinea, the common ancestor of both diverged from a lineage that gave rise to the
kereru and
Chatham pigeon
The Chatham pigeon (''Hemiphaga chathamensis''), also called the Chatham Island pigeon or parea, is a bird endemic (ecology), endemic to the Chatham Islands in New Zealand. Growing to 800g in weight and 55 cm in length, the Chatham Island pi ...
.
"Topknot pigeon" has been designated the official
common name
In biology, a common name of a taxon or organism (also known as a vernacular name, English name, colloquial name, country name, popular name, or farmer's name) is a name that is based on the normal language of everyday life; and is often contrast ...
by the
International Ornithologists' Union
The International Ornithologists' Union, formerly known as the International Ornithological Committee, is a group of about 200 international ornithologists, and is responsible for the International Ornithological Congress and other international ...
(IOC);
John Gould noted in 1848 that it had been given this name by the colonists of New South Wales.
It is also known by the name of "flock pigeon".
Description
![TopknotPigeon](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3c/TopknotPigeon.jpg)
The topknot pigeon is a large predominately slate-grey bird, in length. The back, coverts and upper secondaries are a darker slate-grey with black quills. The primaries are black, the remaining body in a lighter slate-grey in colour. The chest and hind neck are notched, showing dark bases giving a streaked appearance.
/sup> The tail is black crossed with a board grey band. The crest is grey from the cere to the forehead, and russet brown on the crown with black sides. The mandibles are red with a brown tip, the protuberances at the base of the mandibles are bluish-green. The tarsals and feet are purplish red. The sexes are similar in description. However, Males have larger crest and lack some of the streaking on the chest. Juveniles are like females but the chest is mottled not streaked, the crest is smaller, with the cere and forehead being light brown, the crown grey. Tarsals and feet are reddish brown. The iris is yellow-golden with a bright red outer band. In fledglings the iris is brown. /sup>
Calls
Three distinct calls have been described. The first, ‘coo-oo, eee’, might be related to nestlings. The second, ‘coo-oo, ooo’, is distinctly louder but still soft. The third, ‘cor-or’, is "a quiet, croaky, almost guttural utterance", not unlike the call of the domestic pigeon
The domestic pigeon (''Columba livia domestica'' or ''Columba livia'' ''forma'' ''domestica'') is a pigeon subspecies that was derived from the rock dove (also called the rock pigeon). The rock pigeon is the world's oldest domesticated bird. M ...
. During times of flocking and mass feeding, this pigeon has a short raucous call. This last call has been described as "a distant flying fox or domestic pig".
Distribution and habitat
Found from the Cape York Peninsula
Cape York Peninsula is a large peninsula located in Far North Queensland, Australia. It is the largest unspoiled wilderness in northern Australia.Mittermeier, R.E. et al. (2002). Wilderness: Earth’s last wild places. Mexico City: Agrupació ...
in Queensland to the central south coast of New South Wales. These pigeons cover great distances in search of fruit bearing trees suddenly appearing in areas where they have not been seen for many years and will occasionally move beyond their normal southern range limit, into eastern Victoria. /sup> Historic records from 1953 show the topknot pigeon as an "accidental" species to Tasmania with a specimen taken at Spreyton near Devonport. This bird was one of a flock of 9-10 birds feeding on cherries. Previous to this sighting, the only other recording was in 1907 when two specimens were taken near St. Helens, east coast of Tasmania. The Spreyton specimen is held in the Tasmania Museum, Collection Number 13184/B2703.
Diet
The topknot pigeon has a solely frugivorous
A frugivore is an animal that thrives mostly on raw fruits or succulent fruit-like produce of plants such as roots, shoots, nuts and seeds. Approximately 20% of mammalian herbivores eat fruit. Frugivores are highly dependent on the abundance and ...
diet which varies throughout its range as fruit ripen at different times during the year. This includes various species of ''Ficus
''Ficus'' ( or ) is a genus of about 850 species of woody trees, shrubs, vines, epiphytes and hemiepiphytes in the family Moraceae. Collectively known as fig trees or figs, they are native throughout the tropics with a few species extending in ...
'' and other rainforest fruit trees. Unlike some other species of Columbidae, the topknot pigeon does not use grit in its crop to break down the seeds of the fruit it consumes, and therefore the seeds are defecated intact. This results in seed dispersal not only under the fruiting trees the birds are feeding on but also under their roosting trees.
The breeding season can be directly related to the combined ripening of fruit trees and palms within the rainforest habitat. Forcing to birds to mass flock and congregated at these areas. Nests and eggs have been reported from June to December. Few nests have been observed in the wild. The nest has been described as sometimes flimsy but frequently substantial, built of stout sticks from turpentine and eucalyptus trees. A single ovate egg about 43 by 30 mm in size is laid. Incubation takes 17–24 days in captivity, and both sexes appear to share the incubation duties.
Conservation
The species used to occur in enormous numbers in Australian rainforest, but the population declined because of forest clearance and shooting. Because of concern over the steep decline in their population, topknot pigeons now are a protected species in Australia. However the increasing prevalence of a new food source in the fruit of the 'weed' camphor laurel trees has seen a recent resurgence in their number.
As populations appear to be fluctuating but large, the species is currently classified as Least concern
A least-concern species is a species that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as evaluated as not being a focus of species conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wild. T ...
by the IUCN.
References
External links
Topknot Pigeon Breed Guide - Pigeonpedia.com
Birds in Backyards
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1071722
topknot pigeon
The topknot pigeon (''Lopholaimus antarcticus'') is a pigeon native to eastern Australia.
Taxonomy
English naturalist George Shaw described the topknot pigeon as ''Columba antarctica'' in 1793.
The topknot pigeon is sister taxon to a lineage t ...
Birds of Queensland
Birds of New South Wales
Birds of Victoria (Australia)
Endemic birds of Australia
topknot pigeon
The topknot pigeon (''Lopholaimus antarcticus'') is a pigeon native to eastern Australia.
Taxonomy
English naturalist George Shaw described the topknot pigeon as ''Columba antarctica'' in 1793.
The topknot pigeon is sister taxon to a lineage t ...
Articles containing video clips
Taxa named by George Shaw