Species Fact Profile: Pink Pigeon (Nesoenas mayeri)

                                                                    Pink Pigeon

Nesoenas mayeri (Prevost, 1843)

Range: Mauritius (and nearby Isle aux Aigrettes)

Habitat:  Upland evergreen forest, coastal forest

Diet: Buds, flowers, leaves, shoots, fruits, seeds  

Social Grouping: Pairs, Small Flocks.  Slightly territorial when nesting.

Reproduction: Breed year round, but with a peak in August and September.  Courtship consists of male bowing to female.  Monogamous, often for life.  Nest in a flimsy stick platform.  Two white eggs incubated for two weeks, male sitting during the day, female at night.  May lay several times a year.  Chicks fed crop milk for first week.  Fledge at about 2-4 weeks, independent shortly after

Lifespan: 10-15 Years (males live longer than females)

      Conservation Status: IUCN Vulnerable

•       Body length 36-38 centimeters.  Weigh 350 grams
•       Pale pink head, growing more robust on the shoulders and underside, with dark brown wings and a rust0colored tail.  The beak and feet are a brighter pink.  The dark brown eyes are ringed with red
•       Threats include habitat loss and degradation (in part caused by the spread of non-native plants, such as guava and privet), as well as competition and disease from introduced pigeons.  Most significant threat are introduced mammalian predators, such as macaques, mongooses, rats, and domestic cats (evolved in absence of mammalian predators)
•       Wild population had dropped to as low as 10 birds in 1991.  Thanks to captive breeding and reintroduction, there are now over 400 birds in the wild, supplemented by a sizeable captive population.  Downlisted from IUCN Critically Endangered to Endangered to Vulnerable in 2018.  Conservationists put out supplemental feeding stations to help birds
•       Only pigeon species in the Mascarene islands which has not gone extinct (most famous extinct pigeon is the dodo)