The Réunion pink pigeon (''Nesoenas mayeri duboisi'', but see below) is an extinct subspecies of pigeon that formerly lived on the

Mascarene The Mascarene Islands (, ) or Mascarenes or Mascarenhas Archipelago is a group of islands in the Indian Ocean east of Madagascar consisting of the islands belonging to the Republic of Mauritius as well as the French department of Réunion. Thei ...

island of

Réunion Réunion (; french: La Réunion, ; previously ''Île Bourbon''; rcf, label= Reunionese Creole, La Rényon) is an island in the Indian Ocean that is an overseas department and region of France. It is located approximately east of the island ...

. It is known from the description of a rusty-red pigeon given by Dubois in 1674 and a single

subfossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...

humerus The humerus (; ) is a long bone in the arm that runs from the shoulder to the elbow. It connects the scapula and the two bones of the lower arm, the radius and ulna, and consists of three sections. The humeral upper extremity consists of a roun ...

that agrees with that of the

pink pigeon The pink pigeon (''Nesoenas mayeri'') is a species of pigeon in the family Columbidae endemic to Mauritius. The pink pigeon nearly became extinct in the 1970s and the 1990s and is still very rare. It is the only Mascarene pigeon that has not beco ...

of Mauritius in generic characteristics, except being slightly longer. Also, Dubois' reference to the bill being red at the base and the eyes being surrounded by a red ring suggest that this species was closely allied to the Mauritius taxon. Dubois' description was as follows: It is considered a subspecies of the

. Its

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial n ...

'' Nesoenas'' was often synonymized with ''

Columba Columba or Colmcille; gd, Calum Cille; gv, Colum Keeilley; non, Kolban or at least partly reinterpreted as (7 December 521 – 9 June 597 AD) was an Irish abbot and missionary evangelist credited with spreading Christianity in what is tod ...

'' in the past, but more recently it has been synonymized with ''

Streptopelia ''Streptopelia'' is a genus of birds in the pigeon and dove family Columbidae. These are mainly slim, small to medium-sized species. The upperparts tend to be pale brown and the underparts are often a shade of pink. Many have a characteristic bla ...

''. As the

and the

Malagasy turtle dove The Malagasy turtle dove (''Nesoenas picturatus'') is a bird species in the pigeon and dove family, Columbidae. It is found in Mauritian-Indian Ocean Territory, the Comoros, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mayotte, Réunion, and the Seychelles. Taxon ...

cannot be firmly placed in either of these two genera but apparently represent a distinct lineage that diverged early, probably from the ancestor of ''Streptopelia'', it seems (at least for the time being) to be best to separate them again in ''Nesoenas''. This restores the genus of the Réunion pink pigeon to the one it was originally described under. There seem to have been one to three other species of columbid on Réunion (not counting the invalidated " Réunion solitaire"). Willem Ysbrandtszoon Bontekoe mentioned ''ramiers'' (doves) with blue wings in 1619 as being abundant; apparently a species of ''

Alectroenas The blue pigeons are a genus, ''Alectroenas'', of birds in the dove and pigeon family Columbidae. They are native to islands in the western Indian Ocean. Taxonomy and evolution The genus ''Alectroenas'' was first described in 1840 by the Engl ...

''. Dubois, on the other hand, referred to no less than four kinds of pigeons: ''ramiers'', ''tourterelles'' (turtle doves) and two kinds of ''pigeon'', one rusty red - the present species -, the other slate grey. Either the ''ramiers'' or the ''tourterelles'' of Dubois could refer to a local population of the Madagascar turtle dove, possibly an extinct subspecies, which is known from one subfossil humerus and one

ulna The ulna (''pl''. ulnae or ulnas) is a long bone found in the forearm that stretches from the elbow to the smallest finger, and when in anatomical position, is found on the medial side of the forearm. That is, the ulna is on the same side of t ...

. The slate-grey bird or the ''ramiers'', respectively, seem to be the birds described by Bontekoe. What the remaining form - the ''tourterelles'' or the slate-grey pigeons, respectively - might have been is completely unresolvable at this time, although the possibility of it being a relative of the Rodrigues pigeon cannot be entirely discounted.

Extinction

Since the Réunion pink pigeon was only mentioned explicitly by Dubois, little can be said about its extinction. The last reports of native pigeons were by

Père Bernardin A name suffix, in the Western English-language naming tradition, follows a person's full name and provides additional information about the person. Post-nominal letters indicate that the individual holds a position, educational degree, accredita ...

in 1687 and by

Guillaume Houssaye Guillaume may refer to: People * Guillaume (given name), the French equivalent of William * Guillaume (surname) Other uses * Guillaume (crater) See also * '' Chanson de Guillaume'', an 11th or 12th century poem * Guillaume affair, a Cold War ...

in 1689, although the ''Alectroenas'' may have existed for a somewhat longer time.

Jean Feuilley Jean Feuilley was a pilot engineer and cartographer who was sent to Réunion by the French East India Company to investigate the possibility of agricultural and marine exploitation. He arrived in the island in 1704 and the following year returned ...

in 1705 mentioned that all native pigeons were extinct; it seems likely that introduced rats and cats, combined with excessive hunting, were the causes of the birds' extinction.

Extinction

References

Further reading