AVIS-IBIS

Birds of Indian Subcontinent

1829. Dendrophasa pompadora pompadora

(1829) Dendrophasa pompadora pompadora.

THE POMPADOUR GREEN PIGEON.

Columba pompadora Gmel,, Syst, Nat., i, p. 755 (1788) (Ceylon). Osmotreron pompadora. Blanf. & Oates, iv, p. 9,

Vernacular names. Batgoya, Sipaduwa (Cing.); Pachai-para (Tam.).

Description. Forehead, lores and sides of the head greenish-yellow, turning to green on the crown, nape and neck; some¬times an indication of a grey patch on the crown; hind-neck and upper back green, well defined from the maroon-chestnut of the back, scapulars and lesser wing-coverts; lower back, rump and upper tail-coverts green, rather more yellowish' than, on the back; central tail-feathers green, practically concolorous with the coverts, each succeeding pair of feathers becoming blacker' until the outermost are black, all but the median pair with a broad band of grey at the tips ; median and greater wing-coverts black, fading to grey on the inner webs, the median with broad and the greater with narrow edges of yellow; quills black, becoming grey on the inner webs, the primaries with yellowish-white edges and the secondaries with broader yellow edges; the innermost secondaries suffused with maroon and with very broad edges of yellow; chin and throat lemon-yellow; upper breast creamy-orange, occasionally tinged with vinous or pink; lower breast, abdomen and flanks greenish, the posterior flanks and vent splashed with yellow; vent and under tail-coverts pale buffy-white ; axillaries and under wing-coverts grey, tinged with green.

Colours of soft parts. Iris carmine-red with an inner ring of cobalt; bill glaucous-green, paling to bluish at the tip ; eyelids glaucous-green; legs and feet purple-red.

Measurements. Total length about 240 mm.; wing 138 to 147 mm.; tail 78 to 100 mm.; culmen about 15 to 16 mm.; tarsus about 15 mm.

Nidification. This Green Pigeon breeds from March to June, more rarely on to August, making the usual fragile platform of twigs to serve as nests, placed in high bushes or small trees in forest and jungle. A favourite site is the scrub-jungle and forest near villages. Two is the normal full clutch of eggs but Wait says one only is often laid. A series of twenty-two eggs average 28.7 X 22.6 mm.:' maxima 31.1 X 22.9 and 28.5 x 23.3 mm.; minima 27.5 x 21.6 and 28.2 x 20.7 mm.

Habits. A forest and jungle bird found from the sea-level up to about 4,000 feet. Like all other Green Pigeons they are almost entirely frugivorous,- are very greedy and rather quarrelsome birds when feeding, allowing a close approach of human beings when so engaged, though shy and wary at other times. They collect in flocks of a dozen to a hundred or more and are very swift on the wing, fairly active when climbing about the branches of trees but never descend to the ground. They have the usual sweet whistle of the subfamily, constantly uttered as they clamber from branch to branch in search of fruit.

BookTitle: 
The Fauna Of British India, Including Ceylon And Burma-birds(second Edition)
Reference: 
Baker, EC S (1922–1930) The fauna of British India, including Ceylon and Burma. Second edition. vol.5 1928.
Title in Book: 
1829. Dendrophasa pompadora pompadora
Book Author: 
Edward Charles Stuart Baker
CatNo: 
1829
Year: 
1928
Page No: 
185
Common name: 
Pompadour Green Pigeon
M_ID: 
5445
M_CN: 
Sri Lanka Green Pigeon
M_SN: 
Treron pompadora
Volume: 
Vol. 5
Term name: 
id: 
4479

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Scratchpads developed and conceived by (alphabetical): Ed Baker, Katherine Bouton Alice Heaton Dimitris Koureas, Laurence Livermore, Dave Roberts, Simon Rycroft, Ben Scott, Vince Smith