The white-quilled rock pigeon (''Petrophassa albipennis'') is a dark brown

rock pigeon The rock dove, rock pigeon, or common pigeon ( also ; ''Columba livia'') is a member of the bird family Columbidae (doves and pigeons). In common usage, it is often simply referred to as the "pigeon". The domestic pigeon (''Columba livia domes ...

with a white patch on its wing. It has distinctive pale lines across its face curving above and below its eye. It is a species of

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...

in the family

Columbidae 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 ...

. It is rock dweller found roosting on sandstone cliffs and towers in the Kimberley, WA and east of the Victoria River, NT. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

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 and systematics

There are two species of rock pigeon in Australia, the white-quilled and the chestnut-quilled. Their name reflects their habitat specialisation of sandstone gorges and rocky escarpments. ''Petrophassa albipennis'' was identified and named by

John Gould John Gould (; 14 September 1804 – 3 February 1881) was an English ornithologist. He published a number of monographs on birds, illustrated by plates produced by his wife, Elizabeth Gould, and several other artists, including Edward Lear, ...

in 1841. It reflects the aptness of the name that no alternatives have ever been recorded. The genus name derives from Greek words: ''petros'' meaning rock (its preferred habitat) and ''phassa'' a wild pigeon giving ''Petrophassa,'' and the species name derives from the Latin ''albus'' meaning dull white and ''penna'' meaning feather leading to ''pennis'' meaning -winged referring to the large white patch on its wing when spread. Two subspecies are recognised: * ''P. a. albipennis'' - Gould, 1841 which is found in the Kimberley of Western Australia (WA), and in northwest Northern Territory (NT) as far east as the upper Daly River catchment. * ''P. a. boothi'' - Goodwin, 1969 which has a limited distribution around the Victoria River in the Northern Territory.

Description

The white-quilled rock pigeon is a large mid-brown to reddish-brown

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 ...

. It has

wing A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is expres ...

s measuring 122 to 145 mm and a bill 11.0 to 14.5 mm in length. Subspecies ''albipennis'' weighs 117 to 156 grams while the smaller subspecies ''boothi'' weighs between 103 and 142 grams. It has white spots on its chin and forehead. The orbital skin is grey. Although their common name derives from the white wing panels visible in flight, its facial markings are also distinctive. There are thin, pale lines "across the face, from the base of upper mandible curving above and behind eye, and from lower mandible below eye and curving across sides of head." Subspecies ''albipennis'', found mostly in WA, has large white patches on its wings while subspecies ''boothi'', found in the NT, has smaller patches.

Behaviour and ecology

The ''

IUCN Red List The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biol ...

'' identifies the pigeon's conservation status as Least Concern (LC) but its Northern Territory Conservation Status is listed as Near Threatened (NT). The pigeon's

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

is rocky

escarpment An escarpment is a steep slope or long cliff that forms as a result of faulting or erosion and separates two relatively level areas having different elevations. The terms ''scarp'' and ''scarp face'' are often used interchangeably with ''escar ...

s and gorges where they move easily among the rocks and boulders. They share a distinctive jizz with the

chestnut-quilled rock pigeon The chestnut-quilled rock pigeon (''Petrophassa rufipennis'') is a dark sooty brown pigeon with a distinctive bright chestnut patch on its wing visible in flight. It has distinctive pale lines across its face curving above and below its eye. A sp ...

, often appearing on a prominent rock or ledge with their body held horizontally, their tail held clear of the ground and their wings drooping below their tail. The white-quilled rock pigeon's defining characteristics were first recorded when the type specimens were collected by officers of

HMS Beagle HMS ''Beagle'' was a 10-gun brig-sloop of the Royal Navy, one of more than 100 ships of this class. The vessel, constructed at a cost of £7,803 (roughly equivalent to £ in 2018), was launched on 11 May 1820 from the Woolwich Dockyard on t ...

and detailed in an account of his Australian voyages of the Beagle by her

commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countries this naval rank is termed frigate captain. ...

John Lort Stokes Admiral John Lort Stokes, RN (1 August 1811 – 11 June 1885)Although 1812 is frequently given as Stokes's year of birth, it has been argued by author Marsden Hordern that Stokes was born in 1811, citing a letter by fellow naval officer Crawford ...

: They fly with a characteristic loud clattering of wings, often gliding from one high prominence to another. They feed in adjacent grassy woodlands but return to their escarpments when startled.

Gallery

File:The birds of Australia (16839236676) (cropped).jpg, White-quilled rock pigeon (Cropped extract from ''The Birds of Australia'', Gould 1848) File:White-quilled Rock-Pigeon 02.jpg, White-quilled rock pigeon, The Grotto, Wyndham, Western Australia File:White-quilled Rock Pigeon, Wyndham, Western Australia 01.jpg, White-quilled rock pigeon perched on an escarpment, The Grotto, Wyndham, Western Australia File:White-quilled Rock-Pigeon 03.jpg, White-quilled rock pigeon showing typical jizz, Moochalabra Dam, near Wyndham, WA

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1259271

white-quilled rock pigeon The white-quilled rock pigeon (''Petrophassa albipennis'') is a dark brown rock pigeon with a white patch on its wing. It has distinctive pale lines across its face curving above and below its eye. It is a species of bird in the family Columbidae ...

Birds of the Northern Territory Birds of Western Australia Endemic birds of Australia

Taxonomy articles created by Polbot