Wonga Pigeon
Encyclopedia
The Wonga Pigeon Leucosarcia melanoleuca is a pigeon
that inhabits areas in eastern Australia
with its range being from Central Queensland
to Gippsland
, eastern Victoria, Australia.
Previously they could be found as north as Cairns and as south as the Dandenongs, but due to land clearance, shootings in the 1940s for crop protection and fox
predation, they are rarely seen in these areas, but their populations have improved in these areas.
The Wonga Pigeon is a large, plump pigeon that has a short neck
, broad wing
s, and a long tail
. Its length varies from 38 to 40 centimetres (15.2 to 16 inches). It has pastel blue-grey back feather
s. The head fades to a creamy-white colour. The underside is white with dotted dark grey spots such that a white V can be seen on its chest. They eye
s are a dark red-brown colour and they have pink eye-rings that encircle them. Legs are red and the sexes appear identical but immature
pigeons are browner with a less distinct V pattern.
They are very elusive bird
s and are only often heard, producing explosive wing claps when disturbed. They tend to occur on the ground foraging and are located in rainforest
s, wet eucalypt
forest
s, coastal forests, picnic areas, walking tracks, carparks and garden
s. Their diet consists of fruit
, berries
, seed
s from native forest trees and the odd insect
.
The call of the Wonga Pigeon is a loud, high-pitched 'coo'. This is repeated over long periods of time for a number of seconds. When males are displaying mating, bowing occurs with a soft, trilling coo.
The Wonga Pigeon is monogamous and breeds between October and January. It produces a twig platform nest with a diameter of 30 centimetres. The nest
is build from about 3 to 20 metres above the ground and defending by breeding pairs. The pigeon will sometimes use abandoned nests from Topknot Pigeon
s or Tawny Frogmouth
s. Two large egg
s are normally laid. The eggs are up to 4 centimetres in length.
Dove
Pigeons and doves constitute the bird family Columbidae within the order Columbiformes, which include some 300 species of near passerines. In general terms "dove" and "pigeon" are used somewhat interchangeably...
that inhabits areas in eastern Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
with its range being from Central Queensland
Central Queensland
Central Queensland is an ambiguous geographical division of Queensland that centres on the eastern coast, around the Tropic of Capricorn. Its major regional centre is Rockhampton and the Capricorn Coast and the area extends west to the Central Highlands at Emerald, north to the Mackay Regional...
to Gippsland
Gippsland
Gippsland is a large rural region in Victoria, Australia. It begins immediately east of the suburbs of Melbourne and stretches to the New South Wales border, lying between the Great Dividing Range to the north and Bass Strait to the south...
, eastern Victoria, Australia.
Previously they could be found as north as Cairns and as south as the Dandenongs, but due to land clearance, shootings in the 1940s for crop protection and fox
Fox
Fox is a common name for many species of omnivorous mammals belonging to the Canidae family. Foxes are small to medium-sized canids , characterized by possessing a long narrow snout, and a bushy tail .Members of about 37 species are referred to as foxes, of which only 12 species actually belong to...
predation, they are rarely seen in these areas, but their populations have improved in these areas.
The Wonga Pigeon is a large, plump pigeon that has a short neck
Neck
The neck is the part of the body, on many terrestrial or secondarily aquatic vertebrates, that distinguishes the head from the torso or trunk. The adjective signifying "of the neck" is cervical .-Boner anatomy: The cervical spine:The cervical portion of the human spine comprises seven boney...
, broad wing
Wing
A wing is an appendage with a surface that produces lift for flight or propulsion through the atmosphere, or through another gaseous or liquid fluid...
s, and a long tail
Tail
The tail is the section at the rear end of an animal's body; in general, the term refers to a distinct, flexible appendage to the torso. It is the part of the body that corresponds roughly to the sacrum and coccyx in mammals, reptiles, and birds...
. Its length varies from 38 to 40 centimetres (15.2 to 16 inches). It has pastel blue-grey back feather
Feather
Feathers are one of the epidermal growths that form the distinctive outer covering, or plumage, on birds and some non-avian theropod dinosaurs. They are considered the most complex integumentary structures found in vertebrates, and indeed a premier example of a complex evolutionary novelty. They...
s. The head fades to a creamy-white colour. The underside is white with dotted dark grey spots such that a white V can be seen on its chest. They eye
Eye
Eyes are organs that detect light and convert it into electro-chemical impulses in neurons. The simplest photoreceptors in conscious vision connect light to movement...
s are a dark red-brown colour and they have pink eye-rings that encircle them. Legs are red and the sexes appear identical but immature
Juvenile (organism)
A juvenile is an individual organism that has not yet reached its adult form, sexual maturity or size. Juveniles sometimes look very different from the adult form, particularly in terms of their colour...
pigeons are browner with a less distinct V pattern.
Bird
Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...
s and are only often heard, producing explosive wing claps when disturbed. They tend to occur on the ground foraging and are located in rainforest
Rainforest
Rainforests are forests characterized by high rainfall, with definitions based on a minimum normal annual rainfall of 1750-2000 mm...
s, wet eucalypt
Eucalypt
Eucalypts are woody plants belonging to three closely related genera:Eucalyptus, Corymbia and Angophora.In 1995 new evidence, largely genetic, indicated that some prominent Eucalyptus species were actually more closely related to Angophora than to the other eucalypts; they were split off into the...
forest
Forest
A forest, also referred to as a wood or the woods, is an area with a high density of trees. As with cities, depending where you are in the world, what is considered a forest may vary significantly in size and have various classification according to how and what of the forest is composed...
s, coastal forests, picnic areas, walking tracks, carparks and garden
Garden
A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the display, cultivation, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The garden can incorporate both natural and man-made materials. The most common form today is known as a residential garden, but the term garden has...
s. Their diet consists of fruit
Fruit
In broad terms, a fruit is a structure of a plant that contains its seeds.The term has different meanings dependent on context. In non-technical usage, such as food preparation, fruit normally means the fleshy seed-associated structures of certain plants that are sweet and edible in the raw state,...
, berries
Berry
The botanical definition of a berry is a fleshy fruit produced from a single ovary. Grapes are an example. The berry is the most common type of fleshy fruit in which the entire ovary wall ripens into an edible pericarp. They may have one or more carpels with a thin covering and fleshy interiors....
, seed
Seed
A seed is a small embryonic plant enclosed in a covering called the seed coat, usually with some stored food. It is the product of the ripened ovule of gymnosperm and angiosperm plants which occurs after fertilization and some growth within the mother plant...
s from native forest trees and the odd insect
Insect
Insects are a class of living creatures within the arthropods that have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body , three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes, and two antennae...
.
The call of the Wonga Pigeon is a loud, high-pitched 'coo'. This is repeated over long periods of time for a number of seconds. When males are displaying mating, bowing occurs with a soft, trilling coo.
The Wonga Pigeon is monogamous and breeds between October and January. It produces a twig platform nest with a diameter of 30 centimetres. The nest
Bird nest
A bird nest is the spot in which a bird lays and incubates its eggs and raises its young. Although the term popularly refers to a specific structure made by the bird itself—such as the grassy cup nest of the American Robin or Eurasian Blackbird, or the elaborately woven hanging nest of the...
is build from about 3 to 20 metres above the ground and defending by breeding pairs. The pigeon will sometimes use abandoned nests from Topknot Pigeon
Topknot Pigeon
The Topknot Pigeon is a pigeon native to Australia. It is also known by the name of "Flock Pigeon".-Description:...
s or Tawny Frogmouth
Tawny Frogmouth
The Tawny Frogmouth is an Australian species of frogmouth, a type of bird found throughout the Australian mainland, Tasmania and southern New Guinea. The Tawny Frogmouth is often mistaken to be an owl...
s. Two large egg
Egg (biology)
An egg is an organic vessel in which an embryo first begins to develop. In most birds, reptiles, insects, molluscs, fish, and monotremes, an egg is the zygote, resulting from fertilization of the ovum, which is expelled from the body and permitted to develop outside the body until the developing...
s are normally laid. The eggs are up to 4 centimetres in length.