Yellow-footed green pigeon

Yellow-footed Green Pigeon

Introduction of Yellow-footed Green Pigeon

   The yellow-footed green pigeon (Scientific Name:Treron phoenicoptera) of Family: Columbidae is a common species of green pigeon. In India it is known as  Hariyal. The scientific name Treron phoenicoptera explains both its character and physical attributes of this bird. Meaning of the word "Treronis" in  Greek is pigeon or dove, which also mean shy or timid. The word "phoenicopterus" derived  from the Greek word phoinikopteros, mostly refers to the lilac patch on the shoulder. So the name mean a shy pigeon with a lilac patch on the shoulder.

How to Identify Yellow footed green pigeon

    Size of adult Yellow footed green pigeon is between 29 to 33 cm. The length of the tail is between 8 to 10 cm. Weight of adult is between 225 to 260 g. and the  wingspan is 17 to 19 cm.
Color of the body is yellowish olive-green which is duller above and the crown is blue grey. Forehead and lores are pale olive-green. There is lilac patch on the shoulders and a conspicuous yellow bar in the blackish wings.
    Neck dark golden olive-yellow tinged greenish, mauve shoulder patch, bright yellow fringes to the wing coverts.
   Mantle and scapulars dull grey green, the mantle bordered above with a distinct blue grey band. Abdomen dull green with greyer flanks and bright sulphur-yellow lower belly and leg feathers.
Bright yellow legs always diagnostic for this species.
    Lesser coverts are olive and those near the bend of the wings are mauve. Median and greater coverts are grey with olive tinged, with pale yellow fringes to the apical halves of the outerwebs.           Outer greater coverts are blakish. Tail is slaty grey tinged olive basally, especially on the centeral feathers. Upper tail light greenish with broad, dark grey terminal bar. Under tail black basally, apical half ashy grey. Under wing pale grey tinged olive on the leading edge.
    Outer ring of iris are pink-red and  inner are pale blue.  The bill is silver grey with light green color.
Females are slightly duller than male with a more restricted mauve shoulder patch.
    Juvenile birds are paler and duller than the female and the mauve shoulder patch is lacking or almost lacking.

Habits and Habitats

    Yellow footed green pigeon is a shy bird. It is almost entirely arboreal and rarely seen on the ground. They are social birds and forage in flocks. They found in pairs or small groups consisting of 5 to 10 birds but  sometimes in large groups. The flight is  swift, strong, and direct and wings make a distinctive winnowing whistle when they takes flight.
   Semi evergreen forests, dry and moist deciduous forest, wooded habitats and secondary forests up to 800 meters of elevation are it's natural habitats. They are commonly found in agricultural land, villages road side trees particularly Banyan and Peepal trees.

    Distribution
   They found in India, Sri Lanka, Burma, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, China, Thailand, Cambodia, and Indochina except Sind, Baluchistan and the desert tracts of the North-West.
   This species has four recognized sub-species. They are as bellows
   T.p phoenicopterus: This sub-species are found in  East Pakistan and North India to Assam and Bangladesh
   T.p phillipsi: This sub-species are found in Sri Lanka
   T.p chlorigaster: This sub-species are found in Peninsular India south of the Gangetic Plain
   T.p viridifrons: This sub-species are found in extreme South-west China (Yunnan) to Myanmar and north-west Thailand

       Call
   The call is a series of about ten beautiful, mellow, musical whistles which sounds like "Wheet-wa-hoo" and "hoo-hoo".

      Food
   Yellow footed green pigeon is frugivorous. It loves figs from the banyan and peepal trees.They feed on various fruits, berries and crops. They also feed on buds, shoots and various grains.

Nesting and Breeding

   The breeding season of Yellow footed green pigeon is between March to June. During the courtship the male puffs out his throat and breast, lowers his wings, ruffles out his feathers, then prances solemnly up and down the branch, continually bowing his head and whistling softly as he makes his way backwards and forwards to and from the female. Sometimes the female responds with a similar but less intense version of this display.
   Nest is a relatively slight platform of twigs in a tree or shrub. Clutch consists of 1 to 2 eggs. Eggs are white and glossy. Incubation period is between 13 to 15 days. Both the male and female incubate and feed the cheeks.