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  Profile

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  In flight

Pigeons & Doves

Pink Pigeon

Nesoenas mayeri

• mythic
• 1500 km/h
• Vulnerable

Was down to 10 birds in 1991, now back over 400 in Mauritius. The dodo's island gets a second chance.

Population

Small: roughly 250-999 mature individuals per the IUCN/BirdLife 2021 assessment (~308 known individuals counted in 2020, possible total of ~488 across seven subpopulations), up from a low of just 10 wild birds in 1990.

Habitat

Native subtropical/tropical moist lowland and upland evergreen forest from sea level to about 800 m, plus forest plantations used for breeding; avoids areas dominated by invasive plants such as Chinese guava and privet.

Fun fact

The Pink Pigeon crashed to just 10 known wild individuals in 1990 but has since recovered to several hundred birds through one of conservation's best-known recovery programs (captive breeding, supplementary feeding, and predator control led by the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust and Mauritian Wildlife Foundation).

Range

Endemic to Mauritius, surviving as managed subpopulations in the Black River Gorges (southwest Mauritius) and on the offshore islet of Ile aux Aigrettes (extent of occurrence ~320 km2); a related population on Reunion went extinct around 1700.

Diet

Herbivorous; feeds on buds, flowers, leaves, shoots, fruits, and seeds of native and introduced plants, foraging both on the ground and in the canopy.

Size

0.37 m