Philippine cuckoo-dove facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Philippine cuckoo-dove |
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| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Genus: |
Macropygia
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| Species: |
tenuirostris
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| Subspecies | |
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See text |
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The Philippine cuckoo-dove (Macropygia tenuirostris) is a type of bird that belongs to the Columbidae family. This family includes all the doves and pigeons. You can find this special bird living in the Philippines and Taiwan. It's currently listed as a species of least concern on the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List. This means it's not in danger of disappearing right now.
How Scientists Classify the Philippine Cuckoo-Dove
Scientists like to group living things to understand them better. This is called taxonomy. The Philippine cuckoo-dove was first officially described by a French zoologist named Charles Lucien Jules Laurent Bonaparte in 1854.
For a while, some experts thought this bird was just a type of ruddy cuckoo-dove or brown cuckoo-dove. But in 2016, scientists decided it was its own unique species. There are four known types, or subspecies, of the Philippine cuckoo-dove:
- M. t. phaea - found on Lanyu Island, Batan Island, and Calayan Island
- M. t. tenuirostris - found in the Philippines
- M. t. borneensis - found on Borneo
- M. t. septentrionalis - found on Batan, Itbayat, and Sabtan Islands in the northern Philippines, and also on Lanyu Island in Taiwan.
What Does the Philippine Cuckoo-Dove Look Like?
The Philippine cuckoo-dove is a fairly large bird. It grows to be about 38.5 centimeters (about 15 inches) long. It usually weighs between 157 and 191 grams (about 5.5 to 6.7 ounces).
Its head is a reddish-brown color, like cinnamon. The feathers on its upper back have a shiny, purplish look with small brown spots. Its neck also has a purple shine. The front part of its head is orange-reddish brown. The top of its head and the back of its neck are a chestnut color with a hint of pink.
Its eyes are red, and its beak is brown. The feathers around its ears and the sides of its neck are also orange-reddish brown. The sides of its chest and the back of its neck are shiny pinkish-purple with small black spots. Its chest has a light purple tint. The outer feathers of its tail are dark reddish-brown with black bands near the ends. Its feet are bright red.
Female Philippine cuckoo-doves look a bit different. The back of their neck is a warm, light brown with black spots and bars. Their back and wing feathers are more reddish-brown around the edges. Young cuckoo-doves look similar to the females but have more stripes or bars on their feathers.
Is the Philippine Cuckoo-Dove Endangered?
Since 1998, the Philippine cuckoo-dove has been listed as a species of least concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List. This is good news!
It means the bird is not currently at risk of becoming extinct. There are a few reasons for this:
- It lives across a very large area, more than 20,000 square kilometers (about 7,700 square miles).
- The number of these birds seems to be stable, meaning their population isn't shrinking.
- While scientists haven't counted every single bird, they believe there are more than 10,000 Philippine cuckoo-doves. This number is well above the point where a species would be considered vulnerable (at risk).
The Philippine cuckoo-dove is known to be a widespread species. Scientists don't think it faces any major threats right now.
