Tag: Pigeons & Doves

Dodo reconstruction at the National Museum of Natural History in Paris, France
This replica of the dodo is the result of interpretative work based on historical and scientific research: accounts, depictions and bones. No taxidermied specimen of the species exists. The bird was created by the artist Camille Renversade and realised in collaboration with the museum’s taxidermy workshops. (© Doreen Fräßdorf, photographed at the Muséum national d'histoire naturelle in Paris, France, 2024)
Birds

Dodo – Dead as a dodo

The dodo, related to pigeons (Columbidae), is probably the best-known example of an animal species exterminated by humans. References to the bird in literature and painting are common—for example in chapter three of the children’s book Alice in Wonderland (1865) by Lewis Carroll or in the paintings of the Flemish

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Socorrotaube - ausgestorben in der Wildnis
The Socorro dove has been extinct on its home island of Socorro since the 1970s. Its current population amounts to fewer than 200 individuals in human care. (© Ltshears, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons)
Ex situ animals

The Socorro dove and the race to reintroduce it on Socorro

Originally, the Socorro dove was widespread on the remote volcanic Pacific island of Socorro, part of the Revillagigedo Islands. But human influences such as introduced predators and the destruction of its habitat wiped it out in the wild. Today, only about 189 individuals still exist worldwide, kept in zoos and

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Ectopistes migratorius Wandertaube
The passenger pigeon was once the most common bird in North America. Today, it exists only in historical records and museum samples. Now modern gene-editing technologies are supposed to help bring the species back. (© Hayashi and Toda (artists), Charles Otis Whitman (author)., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)
News

The Revival of the Passenger Pigeon: A Project by Revive & Restore

The passenger pigeon, once the most common bird in North America, has been extinct for more than a century. Now, biologists from the nonprofit organization Revive & Restore have set a goal to bring the species back using cutting-edge gene-editing technologies. Under the leadership of Ben Novak, efforts are underway

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Ausgestorbene Wandertaube: Jungvogel, Männchen, Weibchen
A depiction of the extinct passenger pigeon created between 1910 and 1914: a young bird (left), a male (middle) and a female (right). (© Louis Agassiz Fuertes, via Wikimedia Commons)
Birds

Passenger Pigeon

From the most common to an extinct bird species When European explorers reached eastern North America in the 16th century, they were amazed at the huge flocks of birds they found in the ancient forests. Compared to Europe, where large parts of the forests had already been cut down, they

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fergusson fasanentaube
While the head resembles that of a pigeon, the body of the pheasant pigeon resembles a pheasant. Generally, four subspecies are distinguished, which differ from the nominate form by their nape patch. The black-naped pheasant pigeon has a black nape patch. (© John Gerrard Keulemans, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)
News

Not sighted for 140 years: Black-naped pheasant pigeon rediscovered

As Pat Leonard from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology reported yesterday, a team of scientists during an expedition to Papua New Guinea in September of this year rediscovered the black-naped pheasant pigeon (Otidiphaps insularis or Otidiphaps nobilis insularis), which had not been sighted for 140 years. The researchers captured the

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