10 animals on the edge of extinction you didn't know about no. 7

10 animals on the edge of extinction you didn't know about no. 7 - tooth-billed pigeon

Hi everyone,

We're back with another endangered animal. This time it's a pigeon, but not the kind that we're used to seeing in cities.

The tooth-billes pigeon, didunculus strigirostris, is the only remaing species of the Didunculus genus and is one of the closest living relatives of the world-famous Dodo. The adults have chestnut coloured bodies and wings, a greenish head and neck with red skin around the eyes, reddish feet and an orange bill with a characteristic jagges tip (hence the name tooth-billed). They are 31-38cm long and weigh about 400g. The juveniles are duller with a brown head and a black bill. Tooth-billed pigeons are shy and are belived to live in small groups.

These terrestrial birds are endemic to the islands of Upolu and Savai'i. They are Samoa's national bird and can be found on the local currency. In Samoa they are known as Manumea and are eaten on a local and national level, but not internationally. They live in the undisturbed primary forest between sea level and aroudn 1600m above sea level. Here they feed on fruit. They do not migrate and were discovered by a US exploration team in the 1840s/50s.

In October 2016, they were assessed by the IUCN and classified as Critically Endangered. The population has been rapidly decreasing over the past few decades. In the 1980s, there were an estimated 4800-7200 individuals. In 2005/06, there were only a few hundred and now the estimates suggest that there are only 50-380 individuals remaining. To make matters worse, this population is severely fragmented. In 2013, the first juvenile in a decade was caught on camera. Chick mortality is probabaly very high, meaning that the population is old with few young to continue reproducing in the future. In the 2016 surveys, there was only one confirmed sighting. There are no individuals in captivity. These problems are caused by habitat loss, hunting, cyclones and invasive species such as cats and rats.

So this species is in big trouble. Hopefully the authorities help by limiting habitat loss and preserving the forests.

Your Green World Blog Team💚

Sources:

https://ebird.org/species/tobpig1

https://www.britannica.com/animal/tooth-billed-pigeon

https://pigeonpedia.com/tooth-billed-pigeon/

https://animalia.bio/tooth-billed-pigeon

https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/22691890/156841404

Image:

This image, by amanderson2 (on flickr.com), is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

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