Rare bird pink dove
The rare bird, the pink pigeon, today belongs to an endangered species of the pigeon family, and also continues to be one of the most unusual representatives of its species.
Pink dove
Area of residence
You can meet a pink pigeon only in a limited area. It lives exclusively on the southern side of the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius, and on the eastern coast of the coral island of Egret, in the vicinity of many rare species of birds and mammals hidden from human eyes. To the last aforementioned place of residence, the pink pigeon was artificially moved with the help of humans in order to preserve the species.
Historical records indicate Reunion Island among the earliest habitats of the pink pigeon.
Among the natural habitats that the pink pigeon chooses for itself are evergreen forest areas located in mountainous areas, preserved in small quantities. When settling in such mountainous forest areas, the described winged ones predominantly prefer dense liana thickets, where there is enough fresh greenery.
External features
In size, a pink pigeon reaches a length of 38 cm, while it does not weigh as much as an ordinary city bird of this family - from 0.32 to 0.35 kg. In addition to the main characteristics of the sizes, the description of the pink pigeon includes its distinctive features:
- medium-length cervical spine and round small-sized head,
- dark gray or dark brown wings, while the color of the primary feathering is slightly darker than that of the rest,
- the tail section is folded in the form of a fan, the tail is colored brown with a red tint,
- the beak is quite strong, slightly thickens towards the end, light red at the base, the tip is painted in pale pink,
- four-toed (one short, three long toes) paws of a light red tone,
- the eye iris is yellow dark, the ring around the eye is red.
Still, the main distinguishing feature of a pink pigeon, thanks to which the bird got its name, is the main plumage of a pale shade.
If you find photos showing a pink pigeon, then most of them will contain pictures of ordinary white pigeons artificially painted in bright colors. There is nothing similar in a true pink pigeon with this color. In a rare natural bird, the main color in the plumage is low-contrast.
Behavioral traits
Females and males of the pink pigeon make their calls during flight. If in females the voice looks like a low sound with a muffled "x", similar to "huhuu ...", then for males the timbre of the sounds produced will be a little louder and frequent with a long "ku-kuu ...".
For a pink pigeon, it is preferable to live in a flock, in small groups. For the period of breeding, they form pairs and begin to live territorially, actively guarding and protecting the occupied area from relatives.
By nature, the pink pigeon is a monogamous bird.
Birds select nesting sites already with the beginning of the mating season, which falls on August-September.At the same time, in captivity in zoos, the pink pigeon can extend its mating season year-round, but the peak of fertility occurs in the spring and summer.
The mating games of these pigeons begin with the courtship of the doves by the males. Birds walk around females with an elongated neck and a swollen goiter.
The nest of rare pigeons is built from thin branches, therefore it is often loose and fragile. The female's oviposition contains no more than 2 eggs with a white shell, which incubation takes place for 14 days. At the same time, in the morning and at night, the female sits on egg-laying, and in the daytime, the male.
Raising chicks
The newborn chicks that appeared after 14 days are blind. Their body is covered with rare fluffy white feathers. During this period, the cubs cannot feed on their own, therefore, during the first week of life, the parents feed the chicks. For the first 7 days, bird's milk becomes the food for the chicks of pink pigeons - the pigeon's secret of a paste-like state of white color, which is formed by the walls of the bird's goiter. This natural food produced by pigeons contains sufficient and necessary amounts of protein and fat components to support the growth of chicks.
The eyes of chicks open 7 days after birth.
During the growth of the young, the parents begin to include solid food in the feed ration, reducing the output of the produced bird milk. Pigeon chicks are fully fed for adult feeding by the age of 10 days.
A pink pigeon rises on the wing after about 3-4 weeks, remaining in the care of its parents for up to 7 weeks. Sexual maturity of birds begins at the age of one year and ends in males at 10-11 years, in females - by 17-18 years. The total lifespan of these rare pigeons is up to 20 years for males. Females live 5 years less.