Liverpool Pigeon goes on display after officially being declared extinct
The mysterious ‘Liverpool Pigeon’, officially declared extinct by Birdlife International in the 2008 revisions of the list of globally threatened birds, has gone on display at World Museum Liverpool. The Spotted Green Pigeon, Caloenas maculata, is affectionately known as the ‘Liverpool Pigeon’ because the only surviving specimen of the species is held in the collections of the Liverpool World Museum. The whereabouts of the only other specimen of the species is unknown. Birdlife International only recognised the species this year and immediately listed it as extinct. The place of origin of the Liverpool Pigeon and the reasons for its extinction remain unknown although it is believed it originally came from one of the Pacific Islands (National Museums Liverpool 30.05.2008).

See the Liverpool Pigeon factsheet for more information on this species.

Opposite: Nigel Collar (BirdLife International) examines the specimen of the Spotted Green Pigeon on a trip to Liverpool with Jonathan Walker (Columbidae Conservation) to view the extinct pigeon (27.05.2008).

Columbidae Conservation web resource relaunched as a UK based charity
Columbidae Conservation has been revamped and developed into a charity dedicated to conserving the Columbidae family, the pigeons and dove, and their habitat. Our aims are to raise funds to carry out columbid focused research and conservation projects, raise the awareness of the plight of the many threatened and near threatened columbid species, and establish conservation priorities, best practice and knowledge sharing among all involved in columbid research and conservation.

To find out more about the Columbidae Conservation charity please visit the 'about CC' webpages and 'our work' webpages.

If you would like to support Columbidae Conservation please visit the support Columbidae Conservation webpage.

Pink Pigeon release assistant required
The Mauritian Wildlife Foundation and the National Parks and Conservation Service is currently looking for suitably qualified staff to work on the release of the endangered Pink Pigeon in the Black River Gorges National Park. The work involves the translocation of Pink Pigeons on site where they are held in aviaries and later released; birds are then tracked and monitored.  

For more information click here or visit the Mauritian Wildlife Foundation website. Deadline 01.07.2008.

Maltese 2008 spring hunting season banned by European Court
On the 24 April the European Court of Justice issued interim measures ordering Malta not to open the 2008 spring hunting season for European Turtle-dove Streptopelia turtur (and Common Quail Coturnix coturnix). A final ruling on this case is pending and not expected before 2009 (BirdLife 25.04.2008).

The great migration crisis
Many of the birds that migrate to Britain and Europe from Africa every spring, are undergoing alarming declines, new research shows. It is estimated that, each spring, 16 million birds of nearly 50 species pour into Britain to breed from their African winter quarters, and as many as five billion into Europe as a whole, before returning south in the autumn. Figures in an unpublished survey produced by the RSPB paints a startling picture of plunging populations; of the 42 migrants for which there are short-term population trends available (going back only to 1995), 23 have declined with this pattern not confined to Britain. Of the worst affected is the Turtle Dove which has suffered declines of 82%. This pattern is being repeated across Europe as a whole. No one knows the reasons for these disappearances, which may be many and complex, although theories being discussed include habitat degradation in Africa and climate change. Ornithologists from all over Europe will meet in Germany next month to discuss both the vanishing migrants, and the possibility of setting up a network of research stations in Africa to investigate what is happening (Independent 21.04.2008).

Pigeons among the most common and successful birds in UK gardens
The RSPB's Big Garden Birdwatch is a simple but effective surrey of birds in private and public gardens in the UK. This year, over the weekend of 26 and 27 January 2008, almost 400,000 people counted more than six million birds across 228,000 gardens. Woodpigeon came in as the 6th most common bird with an average of 1.53 per garden - a 665% increase since 1979. Collared Dove was the 7th most common species with an average of 1.43 per garden. It's numbers have dropped since last year but it has still enjoyed an increase of 411% since 1979. Collared doves originally came from southern Asia and spread from there to the extreme south-east of Europe. They were first recorded in Britain in 1953 and have since become a common garden bird throughout Great Britain and Ireland.

Ingestion of fruits by pigeons is necessary for sandalwood seed germination
Sandalwood (species: Santalum austrocaledonicum) is a small tree endemic to New Caledonia and Vanuatu that produces single-seeded fleshy drupes. It’s seeds are dormant because of their hard coat and germinate only on physical scarification, or after removing the coat. The two bird species most likely to be potential candidates in assuring sandalwood dispersion and gene flow in New Caledonia are the Cloven-feathered Dove Drepanoptila holosericea (endemic to New Caledonia) and the Red- bellied Fruit-dove Ptilinopus greyii (a native bird of this archipelago). Experiments by scientists from France and New Caledonia found that non ingested fruits did not germinate; however, the passage of sandalwood seeds through the digestive tract of the bird individuals significantly increased seed germination. Ingestion by the Cloven-feathered Dove produced an abrasion of the seed coat that both reduced the length of dormancy and enhanced germinability. While high germinability increases reproductive success, more rapid germination may be an advantage for sandalwood which produces fruits mainly in rainy season.

Tassin, J. (jacques.tassin “at” cirad.fr), Barré, N. and Bouvet, J.-M. (2008) Effect of ingestion by Drepanoptila holosericea (Columbidae) on the seed germination of Santalum austrocaledonicum (Santalaceae). Journal of Tropical Ecology 24: 215–218.