Laurel pigeon facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Laurel pigeon |
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The laurel pigeon (Columba junoniae), also called the white-tailed laurel pigeon, is a special type of bird. It belongs to the pigeon and dove family, called Columbidae. This pigeon lives only in the Canary Islands in Spain. You can find it in forests with many laurel trees. It is even the animal symbol for the island of La Gomera!
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About the Laurel Pigeon
This pigeon is found only on some of the Canary Islands. It is related to the common wood pigeon, which might be its ancestor. Even though it looks big and has a long tail, the laurel pigeon can fly very fast and straight.
Sadly, the number of laurel pigeons has gone down. This is mainly because their forest homes have been cut down. Hunting and predators like introduced animals and rats also cause problems. Protecting the laurel forests and stopping hunting can help their numbers grow. Even with these efforts, the species is still declining and is considered endangered.
What Does It Look Like?
The laurel pigeon is about 40 centimeters (16 inches) long. It is a dark brown and grey bird. It looks a lot like a very dark wood pigeon. Its belly is reddish, and its tail is light grey with a wide, whitish band at the end. The back of its head and neck have a shiny green color. This color turns pink on its upper back. Its beak is pink with a white tip, and its eyes are orange.
There is another similar pigeon in the Canary Islands called the Bolle's pigeon (Columba bollii). This one has a light grey band near the end of its tail and a blackish band at the very end.
Where It Lives and How It Reproduces
The laurel pigeon is a rare bird that lives and breeds in the mountains. It prefers laurisilva and Canary pine forests. It builds a simple nest of sticks in a tree. The female pigeon usually lays one white egg.
When it flies, it moves quickly with regular wing beats. Sometimes, it makes a sharp flick of its wings, which is common for pigeons. When it takes off, you might hear a loud clattering sound. Its call sounds like a rough, hiccuping coo.
Daily Life and Diet
Laurel pigeons like areas with steep slopes and deep valleys. They live in dry forests, laurel forests, and Canary pine forests. They can also be found in farm areas. They build their nests on the ground in cracks, holes, or small ledges. You can find nests at the bottom of trees or under rocks in shady, rocky places with lots of bushes.
The breeding season changes depending on the island. It usually lasts from January to September, with most breeding happening between April and June. On Tenerife, it seems that not many young pigeons survive. This is because many nests are attacked by predators.
Pigeons can start breeding when they are one year old. They nest throughout the year, but mostly from February to June. The male pigeon's display is like that of the common wood pigeon. He flies up quickly, claps his wings loudly, and then glides down with his wings and tail spread out. He might do this a few times before landing. On the ground, the male bows with his neck puffed up to show off his shiny neck feathers. He also raises and fans his tail, then closes it again. He usually makes calls during this display.
The nest is a simple structure made of twigs and grasses. It is often placed high up in cracks in canyon walls with lots of plants. The female usually lays one smooth white egg.
Predators are a big problem for both the laurel pigeon and the Bolle's pigeon. About 88% of nest failures are due to predators. The laurel pigeon is more affected because it nests on the ground. Ground nests are more likely to be attacked than nests in trees. Also, nests are more often attacked in June-July and September-October than in February-March. Cameras have shown that the black rat (Rattus rattus) is the main predator of both pigeons. This is why rats are a key reason why the white-tailed laurel pigeon is rare on Tenerife.
The laurel pigeon eats only plants. About 60% of its diet is fruit, and most of the rest is leaves. Only about 1% of its diet is flowers. They often eat the fruits of Til, Azores Laurel, and Persea indica. They also eat the fruits and leaves of small-leaved holly. Most seeds pass through their bodies whole, except for Azores Laurel seeds, which are usually damaged. Fruit is their main food in autumn and winter when it is easy to find. In spring and summer, when fruits are scarce, they eat more leaves. One study found that 27% of the leaves they ate were from native trees like Small-leaved Holly. About 61% came from herbs and shrubs, and almost 10% from introduced trees like apples and peaches. These pigeons will also eat crops in farm areas, especially cabbage.
If there are not many Til or Azores Laurel fruits, many pigeons might leave the forest. They will then eat cabbage, flowering cherries, and vine shoots from farms. Rats can also compete with pigeons for food in some parts of the island.
Where They Live
The laurel pigeon lives only in the mountainous, subtropical western Canary Islands. You can find it on La Palma, La Gomera, Tenerife, and El Hierro. In the 1980s, there were about 1,200 to 1,480 pigeons. But newer studies show there are more now, and they are spread out more widely. The largest group lives on La Palma, mostly in the northern part of the island. The species is common on La Gomera, mainly in the north. It also lives in small areas on the northern slopes of Tenerife. Recently, it has been seen on El Hierro, but we don't know yet if they are breeding there.
The pigeon mainly lives on the northern slopes of mountains. However, smaller groups can be found in the south where there are still suitable laurel forests. Bones similar to the laurel pigeon have been found on Gran Canaria. But it is not clear if these bones are from the white-tailed laurel pigeon or Bolle's pigeon. A project to bring the white-tailed laurel pigeon back to Gran Canaria started in 2012.
Their natural home is tall laurisilva forests or thick tree heaths. These areas are often covered in clouds for much of the year. The forests have trees like Azores laurel, Oreodaphne foetens, til, Madeira mahogany, Canary laurel, faya, lily of the valley tree, and picconia. The Trocaz pigeon prefers old, untouched forests. But they also use younger forests for feeding. They visit farm land too, especially when there is not enough fruit. Most pigeons live below 1,000 meters (3,300 feet). Their favorite places seem to be steep, valley-filled slopes near water, with some large dead laurel trees and lots of tree heath. This bird moves around a lot between different areas at different times of the year.
When humans first arrived on the islands, these pigeons were very common. But they disappeared from some areas. This was mostly because forests were cut down for wood and to create land for farming and grazing animals.
Stopping farm animals from entering the native forests helps the forests grow back. This creates more good homes for the pigeons. Some illegal hunting and poisoning still happen because these pigeons can damage crops. However, the main reason why their numbers are not growing faster is that black rats eat their eggs and young.
The laurel pigeon is now listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List. This is an improvement from its Threatened status in 1988. This species is protected by the European Union's Birds Directive. The laurel forests are also protected under the Habitats Directive.
Pigeon Family Tree
The genus Columba is the largest group within the pigeon family. It is found all over the world. These pigeons are usually light grey or brown. They often have white marks on their heads or necks. They might also have shiny green or purple patches on their necks and chests. The feathers on their necks can be stiff and form grooves.
One group within Columba includes the common wood pigeon, Bolle's pigeon, the Trocaz pigeon, and the African Afep pigeon. The three pigeons found only on the Macaronesian islands (this species, Bolle's, and Trocaz) are thought to have come from wood pigeons that got separated on these islands.
The Atlantic islands of the Canaries, Azores, and Madeira were formed by volcanoes. They were never connected to a continent. Madeira started forming in the Miocene epoch and was mostly complete 700,000 years ago. At different times, ancestral wood pigeons arrived on these main islands. They then changed over time, living separately from the pigeons on the mainland. Studies of mitochondrial and nuclear DNA suggest that the ancestor of Bolle's pigeon might have arrived in the Canaries about 5 million years ago. But an older group that led to the laurel pigeon (C. junoniae) might be from 20 million years ago. The most recent wood pigeon to arrive in Macaronesia was the one that became the subspecies C. palumbus maderensis.
The Trocaz pigeon was officially described in 1829 by Karl Heineken. He realized it was different from the local form of the Madeiran wood pigeon, which is now extinct. The Trocaz pigeon is a monotypic species, meaning it doesn't have subspecies. However, in the past, the Canarian Bolle's pigeon was sometimes thought to be a subspecies of the Trocaz pigeon.
See also
In Spanish: Paloma rabiche para niños
