Norfolk pigeon
{{Short description|Extinct subspecies of bird}}
{{subspeciesbox
| name = Norfolk pigeon
| image = Hemiphaga novaeseelandiae spadicea.png
| image_caption = Illustration by Keulemans, 1907
| extinct = early 20th century
| status = EX
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| genus = Hemiphaga
| species = novaeseelandiae
| species_link = New Zealand pigeon
| subspecies = spadicea
| authority = Latham, 1801
}}
The Norfolk pigeon or Norfolk Island pigeon (Hemiphaga novaeseelandiae spadicea), sometimes called the wood quest, is an extinct subspecies of the New Zealand pigeon (kererū) that inhabited Norfolk Island. This population probably colonised Norfolk Island from New Zealand during the Pleistocene.{{Cite journal|last1=Goldberg|first1=Julia|last2=Trewick|first2=Steven A.|last3=Powlesland|first3=Ralph G.|date=2011|title=Population structure and biogeography of Hemiphaga pigeons (Aves: Columbidae) on islands in the New Zealand region: Population structure of pigeons in New Zealand|journal=Journal of Biogeography|language=en|volume=38|issue=2|pages=285–298|doi=10.1111/j.1365-2699.2010.02414.x|s2cid=55640412 }} It became extinct around the turn of the 20th century.
Taxonomy
German naturalist Johann Reinhold Forster described the Norfolk pigeon as Columba argetraea in 1794, however the name was not used.{{cite web|url=https://biodiversity.org.au/afd/taxa/Hemiphaga_novaeseelandiae_spadicea |title=Subspecies Hemiphaga novaeseelandiae spadicea (Latham, 1801) |author=Australian Biological Resources Study|date=20 August 2013|work=Australian Faunal Directory|publisher=Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts, Australian Government|access-date=14 September 2021|location=Canberra, Australian Capital Territory}} English ornithologist John Latham described it as Columba spadicea in his 1801 work Supplementum Indicis Ornithologici.{{cite book | page = 53 | title = Zoological Catalogue of Australia | author = R. Schodde, Australia Bureau of Flora and Fauna, I. J. Mason, Australian Biological Resources Study, W. W. K. Houston, A. Well | publisher = CSIRO Publishing | date = 1997 | isbn = 0-643-06037-5}}
Twenty specimens of the Norfolk Pigeon are known. Three of these are in the Natural History Museum, Leiden,{{cite web | url = http://nlbif.eti.uva.nl/naturalis/detail.php?lang=uk&id=41 | title = Naturalis - Extinct bird: Hemiphaga novaeseelandiae spadicea (Norfolk Island Pigeon) | publisher = Nationaal Natuurhistorisch Museum | access-date = 2008-12-08 | url-status = dead | archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20110608005812/http://nlbif.eti.uva.nl/naturalis/detail.php?lang=uk&id=41 | archivedate = 2011-06-08 }} two in the Natural History Museum New York and one specimen in World Museum Liverpool. DNA collected and analyzed from toepad tissue indicated that the Norfolk Island pigeon is genetically sister to the New Zealand Hemiphaga novaeseelandiae population.
Early records from Norfolk Island indicate the local people gave it the name "wood quest", however the name was not passed on from the second settlement to the Pitcairn settlers. The term is related to the words "queece", "queest" and "quist" used for the wood pigeon in the West Midlands and southwestern England.{{cite journal |last1=McAllan |first1=Ian |title=A Common Name for the Norfolk Island Pigeon |journal=Australian Bird Watcher |date=1999 |volume=18 |issue=4 |pages=179–180}}
Ecology
File:NorfolkIlslandPigeonByJohnHunter.jpg's Birds & flowers of New South Wales drawn on the spot in 1788, '89 & '90]]
File:Hemiphaga novaeseelandiae spadicea.jpg]]
The abundance of the Norfolk pigeon at the time of the island's settlement is unknown. Early records indicate the presence of the bird, but do not contain any information on its numbers. Based on the behaviour of the other subspecies, it is likely that the bird relied upon fruiting plants for food.{{cite web | url = http://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/threatened/publications/action/birds2000/pubs/nz-pigeon.pdf | work = The Action Plan for Australian Birds 2000 | author1 = Stephen T. Garnett | author2 = Gabriel M. Crowley | name-list-style = amp | publisher = Environment Australia | date = 2000 | access-date = 8 December 2008 | title = New Zealand Pigeon (Norfolk Island) | url-status = dead | archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20110521012227/http://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/threatened/publications/action/birds2000/pubs/nz-pigeon.pdf | archivedate = 21 May 2011}}
Extinction
The extinction of the Norfolk pigeon was caused by a combination of the introduction of cats and weasels, habitat destruction by human settlers, and direct hunting by humans. Before European settlement, the bird had been hunted by Polynesian settlers of the island. When Europeans reached the island, however, the birds remained and the Polynesians did not.{{cite journal | title = Avifauna from the Emily Bay Settlement Site, Norfolk Island:A Preliminary Account | journal = Records of the Australian Museum | volume = 27 | url = http://www.amonline.net.au/pdf/publications/1343_complete.pdf | date = 2001 | access-date = 2008-12-10 | pages = 85–100 |author1=Richard N. Holdaway |author2=Atholl Anderson |name-list-style=amp | doi=10.3853/j.0812-7387.27.2001.1343}} The Europeans took up the bird as a food source. An officer of the penal colony there, Ensign Abel Dottin William Best, recorded the species as still quite common in 1838, with his journals mentioning his successful hunting of 72 birds, including 25 on September 18, 1838.{{cite journal | title = Ensign Best's bird observations on Norfolk Island | pages = 319–322 | journal = Notornis | publisher = Ornithological Society of New Zealand | volume = 32 | date = December 1985 | url = http://www.notornis.org.nz/free_issues/Notornis_32-1985/Notornis_32_4.pdf | access-date = 2008-12-10 | author = James L. Moore | url-status = dead | archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20081017211931/http://www.notornis.org.nz/free_issues/Notornis_32-1985/Notornis_32_4.pdf | archivedate = 2008-10-17 }} The last sighting occurred in 1901.{{cite book | title = The Encyclopedia of Vanished Species | last = Day | first = David | date = 1989 | publisher = Mclaren Publishing Limited | place = Hong Kong | isbn = 0-947889-30-2}} Direct hunting by humans was probably the dominant cause of extinction.
Memorials
The Government of Norfolk Island released a stamp commemorating the bird on February 24, 1971.{{cite web | url = http://www.captaincooksociety.com/ccsu33part3.pdf | title = Bird Stamps Related To Captain James Cook | date = 2005 | publisher= Captain Cook Society | access-date = 2008-12-10}}
References
{{Reflist|30em}}
External links
- [http://collections.tepapa.govt.nz/objectdetails.aspx?oid=710957&coltype=art®no=2006-0010-1/54 A painting of a Norfolk Island Pigeon by Paul Martinson at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa]
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