The wonga pigeon (''Leucosarcia melanoleuca'') is a pigeon that inhabits areas in 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 ...

with its range being from Central Queensland to Gippsland, eastern Victoria, Australia.

Distribution and habitat

Previously they could be found as north as

Cairns Cairns (, ) is a city in Queensland, Australia, on the tropical north east coast of Far North Queensland. The population in June 2019 was 153,952, having grown on average 1.02% annually over the preceding five years. The city is the 5th-most-p ...

and as south as the

Dandenongs The Dandenong Ranges (commonly just The Dandenongs) are a set of low mountain ranges, rising to 633 metres at Mount Dandenong, approximately east of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The ranges consist mostly of rolling hills, steeply weathere ...

, but due to land clearance, shootings in the 1940s for crop protection, and

fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

predation, they are rarely seen in these areas, but their populations have improved.

Description

The wonga pigeon is a large, plump pigeon that has a short

neck The neck is the part of the body on many vertebrates that connects the head with the torso. The neck supports the weight of the head and protects the nerves that carry sensory and motor information from the brain down to the rest of the body. In ...

, broad wings, and a long tail. Its length varies from 38 to 40 centimetres (15.2 to 16 inches). It has pastel blue-grey back

feather Feathers are epidermal growths that form a distinctive outer covering, or plumage, on both avian (bird) and some non-avian dinosaurs and other archosaurs. They are the most complex integumentary structures found in vertebrates and a premier ...

s. The head fades to a creamy-white colour. The underside is white with dotted dark grey spots such that a white V can be seen on its chest. Their

eye Eyes are organs of the visual system. They provide living organisms with vision, the ability to receive and process visual detail, as well as enabling several photo response functions that are independent of vision. Eyes detect light and conv ...

s are a dark red-brown colour and they have pink eye-rings that encircle them. Legs are red and the sexes appear identical but immature pigeons are browner with a less distinct V pattern.

Diet and behaviour

They are very elusive birds, more often being heard but not seen, producing explosive wing claps when disturbed. They tend to occur on the ground foraging and are located in

rainforest Rainforests are characterized by a closed and continuous tree canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforest can be classified as tropical rainforest or temperate rainfores ...

s, wet eucalypt forests, coastal forests, picnic areas, walking tracks, car parks and gardens. Their diet consists of fruit, berries, seeds from native forest trees and the odd insect.

Call

The call of the wonga pigeon is a loud, high-pitched 'coo' repeated over long periods of time for a number of seconds. When males are displaying mating, bowing occurs with a soft, trilling coo.

Breeding

The wonga pigeon is monogamous and breeds between October and January. It builds a twig platform nest with a diameter of about 30 centimetres, from about 3 to 20 metres above the ground, defended by breeding pairs. The pigeon will sometimes use abandoned nests from topknot pigeons or tawny frogmouths. Two eggs up to 4 centimetres long are normally laid.

References

The Wonga Pigeon: Breed Guide - Pigeonpedia
{{Taxonbar, from=Q221071

wonga pigeon The wonga pigeon (''Leucosarcia melanoleuca'') is a pigeon that inhabits areas in eastern Australia with its range being from Central Queensland to Gippsland, eastern Victoria, Australia. Distribution and habitat Previously they could be found ...

Birds of Queensland Birds of New South Wales Birds of Victoria (Australia) Endemic birds of Australia

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