Black wood pigeon facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Black wood pigeon
Conservation status
Near Threatened (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Genus:	Columba
Species:	janthina

The black wood pigeon or Japanese wood pigeon (Columba janthina) is a type of bird. It belongs to the pigeon family called Columbidae. You can find it in East Asia, especially along the coasts of the Pacific Ocean, near the Korea Strait, Philippine Sea, and East China Sea.

This pigeon is thought to be the largest of its kind, from the Columba group. It weighs about 550 grams (1.2 lb) and is about 43 cm (17 in) long. It naturally lives in cool forests and warm, wet lowland forests. Sadly, its numbers are going down. This is because its habitat (its home) is being lost or damaged. Also, forests are being cut down, and people hunt these birds. This wood pigeon lives only in laurel forests.

What Does the Black Wood Pigeon Look Like?

The black wood pigeon is the biggest pigeon in East Asia. It is usually between 37 cm and 40 cm long, sometimes even 43.5 cm. Its head is quite small.

This bird looks very dark. Its body is mostly a sooty black color. Its crown (top of the head), shoulders, and sides of the neck have shiny green or purple colors. Its eyes are brown, and its legs are red. The whole body is covered with shiny black feathers. Its feathers are not very noticeable, mainly black. But the top of its head and its back have a bright metallic purple shine. Its back and chest also have a green-purple metallic shine.

Its beak is long, narrow, and dark. The beak is greenish-blue, and its tip is ivory or pale yellow. The fleshy part on top of the beak (called the cere) is small.

Male and female black wood pigeons look very similar. Young birds, though, have lighter feathers. Their pale yellow neck patch is also not fully developed or missing. Adult birds have red legs, while young birds have paler legs. When it flies, it looks a bit like a crow. It has large wings and a slightly fanned tail.

There are at least three types (subspecies) of Columba janthina. They have small differences in their feathers:

• Columba janthina janthina (also called Karasubato): Its head is covered with black feathers. Its beak is light blue and dark blue.
• Columba janthina nitens: Its head is covered with purple-red feathers. Its beak is black. It has reddish or purplish colors on its face, head, and the back of its upper neck.

Where Does the Black Wood Pigeon Live?

The black wood pigeon lives on small islands in the East China Sea. You can find it mainly in the Ryukyu Islands, Iwo Jima, and Bonin Islands. It also lives along the southern coasts of Korea and Japan. In the past, there were more of these birds, and they lived in more places. Today, they are thought to live on about 15 islands and small islets.

In Korea, this bird lives and nests on Ulleungdo Island, Jeju-do, and some parts of the south coast. Sometimes, it has been seen in eastern Russia, Shandong (mainland China), and Taiwan. These are places where it doesn't usually live.

In Japan, it is not very common and lives in specific areas. These include small islands off southern Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu. It also lives south through the Nansei-Shoto islands in the Ryukyu Islands to the Yaeyama Islands. You can also find it in the Izu Islands, Ogasawara, and Iwo Islands.

Even though it is still somewhat common on the Izu Islands, its numbers have gone down there since the 1950s. In Okinawa, its numbers dropped in the 1980s because of tree cutting. The type of black wood pigeon called Columba janthina nitens, which lives on the Ogasawara and Iwo Islands, is very rare.

How Does the Black Wood Pigeon Live?

This pigeon lives on some islands in the Sea of Japan, Yellow Sea, and East China Sea. It is a strong and confident forest bird. It is similar to other Columba pigeons that have adapted to island forests. Like some island types of common wood pigeon, these birds do not have many babies.

Most of the black wood pigeon's food comes from plants. However, it also eats worms and small snails. It mostly eats plants, including leaves, flowers, drupes (fleshy fruits), berries, fruit, acorns, and seeds from pine trees. It also eats fruits from trees like Kurogane mochi (Ilex rotunda), mochi-no-ki (Ilex Integra), Sazanqua Camellia sasanqua, Tsubaki Camellia japonica, mulberry trees, ficus, Machilus thunbergii, and Nandinia domestica. This bird collects seeds, buds, and fruits directly from trees. It also finds food on the ground. It prefers trees that are close to ponds and rivers.

The black wood pigeon builds a simple nest made of twigs. It lays one white egg at a time, usually in September. The nest is often in a tree hole or in rocks. This bird usually lives alone. It flies with slow, gliding movements and regular wing beats. Pigeons often make a sharp flick with their wings while flying.

The black wood pigeon lives in thick subtropical forests. It also lives on beaches and islands in the evergreen broadleaf forest. It relies heavily on old, mature forests. These birds help spread the seeds of the trees they eat. They also eat leaves and buds, especially nitrogen-rich leaves when they are breeding. Their diet changes with the seasons, depending on what fruits are available. Leaves can be a big part of their diet when there isn't much fruit. They pick flowers and buds from the tips of branches. They especially like to eat leaves from Prunus trees, young shoots from Asteraceae, Caryophyllaceae, and cruciferous plants. They also eat round, fleshy leaves from ilex trees.

These pigeons play an important role in nature. They are some of the only birds that can eat the largest native fruits and drupes from certain trees. Their numbers dropped sharply after people started living on these islands. They even disappeared from some islands completely. The main reason for their decline was habitat loss from clearing forests. But hunting and predators like introduced species and rats also contributed. Protecting the laurel forests and banning hunting could help their numbers grow. However, this species is still in danger.

The Columba janthina usually lives on Camellia japonica trees. But in Korea, it lives in Machilus thunbergii forests. This means that where Machilus thunbergii trees grow, the Japanese wood pigeon is likely to be found. Protecting these trees directly helps protect the Japanese wood pigeon. These birds also eat fruits from silver magnolia trees near the sea in late July and August. The place where silver magnolia trees grow naturally on the coast of Sa-dong, Nam-myeon, Ulleungdo Island, is a key spot for the Japanese wood pigeon. Because of this, this area is a Natural Monument and is protected to help save the Japanese wood pigeon.

Types of Black Wood Pigeons

Scientists have identified different types (subspecies) of the black wood pigeon:

• Columba janthina janthina — This is the main Japanese wood pigeon, also called the purple pigeon. It was first described by Temminck in 1830.
• Columba janthina nitens — This type is called the red-headed wood-pigeon.
• Columba janthina stejnegeri — This type is known as the Kuni Jonah crow dove.

Images for kids

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  Illustration by Philipp Franz von Siebold