Extinct bird in the family Columbidae from Mauritius
Mauritius blue pigeon
Mounted skin in the National Museum of Scotland, one of three in existence
Conservation status
Extinct (ca. 1830s) (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Domain:
Eukaryota
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Chordata
Class:
Aves
Order:
Columbiformes
Family:
Columbidae
Genus:
Alectroenas
Species:
†A. nitidissimus
Binomial name
†Alectroenas nitidissimus
(Scopoli, 1786)
Location of Mauritius in blue
Synonyms
List
Columba nitidissima Scopoli, 1786
Columba franciae Gmelin, 1789
Columba batavica Bonnaterre, 1790
Columba jubata Wagler, 1827
Alectroenas franciae Gray, 1840
Alectroenas nitidissimus
Columbigallus franciae Des Murs, 1854
Ptilopus nitidissimus Schlegel & Pollen, 1868
The Mauritius blue pigeon (Alectroenas nitidissimus) is an extinct species of blue pigeon formerly endemic to the Mascarene island of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean east of Madagascar. It has two extinct relatives from the Mascarenes and three extant ones from other islands. It is the type species of the genus of blue pigeons, Alectroenas. It had white hackles around the head, neck and breast and blue plumage on the body, and it was red on the tail and the bare parts of the head. These colours were thought similar to those of the Dutch flag, a resemblance reflected in its French common name, Pigeon Hollandais. The juveniles may have been partially green. It was 30 cm (12 in) long and larger and more robust than any other blue pigeon species. It fed on fruits, nuts, and molluscs, and was once widespread in the forests of Mauritius.
The bird was first mentioned in the 17th century and was described several times thereafter, but very few accounts describe the behaviour of living specimens. The oldest record of the species is two sketches from a 1601–1603 ship's journal. Several stuffed specimens reached Europe in the 18th and 19th centuries, while only three stuffed specimens exist today. A live bird kept in the Netherlands around 1790 was long thought to have been a Mauritius blue pigeon, but examination of illustrations depicting it have shown it was most likely a Seychelles blue pigeon. The species is thought to have become extinct in the 1830s due to deforestation and predation.
^BirdLife International (2016). "Alectroenas nitidissimus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016: e.T22691601A93318208. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22691601A93318208.en. Retrieved 13 November 2021.
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