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| status = EX
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| status_ref = <ref name="iucn status 13 November 2021">{{cite iucn |
| extinct = ca. 1830s
| image = Mauritius Blue Pigeon national museum of scotland.JPG
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| ''Alectroenas nitidissimus''
| ''Columbigallus franciae'' <small>Des Murs, 1854</small>
| ''Ptilopus nitidissimus'' <small>Schlegel & Pollen, 1868</small>
}}
| range_map = Mauritius island location.svg
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}}
The '''Mauritius blue pigeon''' ('''''Alectroenas nitidissimus''''') is an [[extinct]] [[species]] of [[blue pigeon]] formerly [[endemism|endemic]] to the [[Mascarene]] island of [[Mauritius]] in the [[Indian Ocean]] east of [[Madagascar]]. It has two extinct relatives from the Mascarenes and three extant ones from other islands. It is the [[type species]] of the [[genus]] of blue pigeons, ''Alectroenas''. It had white [[hackles]] around the head, neck and breast and blue plumage on the body, and it was red on the tail and the bare parts of the head. These colours were thought similar to those of the [[Dutch flag]], a resemblance reflected in its French common name, ''Pigeon Hollandais''. The juveniles may have been partially green. It was 30 cm (12 in) long and larger and more robust than any other blue pigeon species. It fed on fruits, nuts, and [[molluscs]], and was once widespread in the forests of Mauritius.
The bird was first mentioned in the 17th century and was described several times thereafter, but very few accounts describe the behaviour of living specimens. The oldest record of the species is two sketches from a 1601–1603 ship's journal. Several stuffed specimens reached Europe in the 18th and 19th centuries, while only three stuffed specimens exist today. A live bird kept in the Netherlands around 1790 was long thought to have been a Mauritius blue pigeon, but examination of illustrations depicting it have shown it was most likely a [[Seychelles blue pigeon]]. The species is thought to have become extinct in the 1830s due to [[deforestation]] and predation.
== Taxonomy ==
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[[File:Columba nitidissima.jpg|upright|thumb|left|Illustration of a stuffed specimen published with [[Sonnerat]]'s 1782 description]]
The French naturalist [[Pierre Sonnerat]] described the bird in 1782, calling it ''Pigeon Hollandais'' (Dutch pigeon), a French [[vernacular name]] that derives from its red, white, and blue colouration, reminiscent of the [[Dutch flag]] (the French flag did not have these colours before the [[1789 revolution]]). He had collected two specimens during a voyage in 1774.<ref name="Fuller Extinct"/>{{sfn|Cheke|Hume|2008|p=143}}<ref name="Error">{{cite journal |last1=Cheke |first1=A. S. |title=Correcting an egregious error -rediscovering early images of the Seychelles Blue Pigeon Alectroenas pulcherrimus, with a comment on Sonnerat's original misapplied geographical location |journal=Phelsuma |date=2020 |volume=29 |pages=54–59 |url=http://islandbiodiversity.com/Phelsuma28.htm |language=en}}</ref> These [[syntype]] specimens were deposited in the [[Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle]] in Paris. By 1893, only one of them, specimen MNHN n°C.G.
The German naturalist [[Johann Friedrich Gmelin]] described the bird with the species name ''franciae'' (referring to France) in 1789, and the French naturalist [[Pierre Joseph Bonnaterre]] used the name ''batavica'' (referring to [[Batavia, Dutch East Indies|Batavia]]) in his 1790 description.<ref name="HumeExtinct"/><ref name="Jobling">{{cite book |last = Jobling |first = J. A. |year = 2010 |title = The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names |url = https://archive.org/details/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling/page/n67/mode/2up |publisher = Christopher Helm |location = London |isbn = 978-1-4081-2501-4 |pages = 68, 163 }}</ref> In 1840 the English zoologist [[George Robert Gray]] named a new [[genus]], ''[[Alectroenas]]'', for the Mauritius blue pigeon; ''{{transl|el|alektruon}}'' in Greek means [[domestic cock]], and ''oinas'' means [[dove]]. ''Alectroenas nitidissima'' is the [[type species]] of the genus, which includes all blue pigeons.{{sfn|Hume|2011|p=28}} The [[Specific name (zoology)|specific name]] was emended from ''A. nitidissimus'' to ''A. nitidissima'' by the [[IOC World Bird List]] in 2012.<ref name="IOC">{{cite web|url=http://www.worldbirdnames.org/updates/archive-3-1-to-3-5/taxonomy-3-1-3-5/|publisher=IOC World Bird List|title=Taxonomy 3.1–3.5|author=Gill, F.|author2=Donsker, D.|access-date=11 March 2017|year=2012}}</ref>
Another skin arrived at the Paris museum in 1800, collected by Colonel M. Mathieu for the French ornithologist [[Louis Dufresne]]. It was sold in 1819 among other items, was sent to [[Edinburgh]], and is now in the [[National Museum of Scotland]] as specimen MU No. 624.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Alectroenas nitidissimus - Mauritius Blue Pigeon|url=https://www.nms.ac.uk/explore-our-collections/collection-search-results/|access-date=2021-07-21|website=National Museums Scotland|language=en}}</ref> It was not identified as a Mauritius blue pigeon until the British ornithologist [[Alfred Newton]] saw it in 1879. The last specimen recorded was shot in [[Savanne]] in 1826 and given to [[Julien Desjardins]], founder of the [[Mauritius Natural History Museum]] in [[Port Louis]], where it is still located, though in poor condition.{{sfn|Hume|2011|p=31}} Only these three [[taxidermic]] specimens still exist.<ref>{{cite book | last = Rothschild | first = W. | author-link = Walter Rothschild, 2nd Baron Rothschild | year = 1907 | title = Extinct Birds | publisher = Hutchinson & Co | location = London | url = https://archive.org/stream/extinctbirdsatte00roth#page/162/mode/2up |page=163}}</ref>{{sfn|Hume|2011|p=31}} [[Subfossil]] remains of the Mauritius blue pigeon were collected in the [[Mare aux Songes]] [[swamp]] by Théodore Sauzier in 1889. More were collected by Etienne Thirioux around 1900. They are thought to have been found near [[Le Pouce]] mountain and [[Plaine des Roches]].{{sfn|Hume|2011|p=31}}
=== Evolution ===
''Alectroenas'' blue pigeons are closely interrelated and occur widely throughout islands in the western [[Indian Ocean]]. They are [[allopatric]] and can therefore be regarded as a [[superspecies]].<ref>{{cite book | last = Goodwin | first = D. | year = 1983 | title = Pigeons and Doves of the World | publisher = Cornell University Press | location = Ithaca, New York | page = 227 }}</ref> There are three extant species: the [[
Compared with other pigeons, the blue pigeons are medium to large, stocky, and have longer wings and tails. All the species have distinct mobile [[hackles]] on the head and neck. The [[tibiotarsus]] is comparatively long and the [[tarsometatarsus]] short.{{sfn|Hume|2011|p=31}} The blue pigeons may have colonised the Mascarenes, the [[Seychelles]] or a now submerged [[hot spot island]] by "island hopping". They may have evolved into a distinct genus there before reaching [[Madagascar]].{{sfn|Cheke|Hume|2008|p=67}} Their closest [[genetics|genetic]] relative is the [[cloven-feathered dove]] of [[New Caledonia]] (''Drepanoptila holosericea''), from which they separated 8–9 million years ago.<ref>{{cite journal| doi = 10.1080/10635150701549672| last1 = Pereira | first1 = S. L.| last2 = Johnson | first2 = K. P.| last3 = Clayton | first3 = D. H.| last4 = Baker | first4 = A. J.| year = 2007| title = Mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequences support a Cretaceous origin of Columbiformes and a dispersal-driven radiation in the Paleogene| journal = Systematic Biology| volume = 56| issue = 4| pages = 656–672| pmid = 17661233 | doi-access = free}}</ref> Their ancestral group appears to be the [[fruit doves]] (''Ptilinopus'') of [[Southeast Asia]] and [[Oceania]].<ref>{{cite journal| doi = 10.1126/science.295.5560.1683| last1 = Shapiro | first1 = B.| last2 = Sibthorpe | first2 = D.| last3 = Rambaut | first3 = A.| last4 = Austin | first4 = J.| last5 = Wragg | first5 = G. M.| last6 = Bininda-Emonds | first6 = O. R. P.| last7 = Lee | first7 = P. L. M.| last8 = Cooper | first8 = A.| date = 2002| title = Flight of the Dodo| journal = Science| volume = 295| issue = 5560| pages = 1683| pmid = 11872833| url = http://pgl.soe.ucsc.edu/dodo_Shapiro02.pdf}}</ref>
===Misidentified records===▼
{{multiple image▼
|align = right▼
|image1 = Pigeon Hollandais.jpg▼
|image2 = Pavillon Hollandais.jpg▼
|image3 = Seychelles Blue Pigeon by Gijsbertus Haasbroek .jpg▼
|footer = [[Life drawings]] long thought to depict a displaying Mauritius blue pigeon, but now believed to have been a [[Seychelles blue pigeon]], by Gijsbertus Haasbroek, ca. 1790▼
}}▼
A blue pigeon recorded as being from Mauritius was brought to the Netherlands around 1790, where it survived in the [[menagerie]] of [[William V, Prince of Orange]] for three months before dying of [[oedema]]. The only known [[life drawings]] thought to show the species depict this individual; they were drawn by the Dutch artist Gijsbertus Haasbroek and first published by Piet Tuijn in 1969 (along with the ''Gelderland'' sketches). The illustrations show a [[displaying]] male raising its hackles into a [[Ruff (bird)|ruff]]. This is a characteristic behaviour of other blue pigeons, too, and they can also vibrate their hackles.{{sfn|Hume|2011|p=35}}<ref name="Tuijn">{{cite journal|last1=Tuijn|first1=P.|title=Notes on the extinct pigeon from Mauritius, ''Alectroenas nitidissima'' (Scopoli, 1786)|journal=Beaufortia|date=1969|volume=16|issue=218|pages=163–170|url=http://repository.naturalis.nl/record/504777|issn=0067-4745}}</ref> The
Unlike the three surviving skins of Mauritius blue pigeons, Haasbroek's illustration shows a red forehead. Both sexes of the Seychelles blue pigeon also have red foreheads, and the English palaeontologist [[Julian P. Hume]] suggested that the image depicts a male, which was described as "infinitely more handsome" than the female by Cossigny in the mid-18th century. Hume therefore interpreted the three surviving skins as belonging to female specimens.{{sfn|Hume|2011|p=35}}
In 2020, the Dutch researcher and artist Ria Winters noted that the depicted bird was in fact a Seychelles blue pigeon.<ref>{{cite
== Description ==
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}}
The feathers on the head, neck and breast of the Mauritius blue pigeon were silvery white, long, stiffened and pointed, especially around the neck. A patch of bright red, naked skin surrounded the eyes, and extended across the cheeks to the beak, which was greenish with a dark tip. The plumage of the body was [[indigo]], and the back, [[scapular feathers]] and wings were metallic blue. The bases of the outer [[rectrices]] were partially blackish blue. The tail feathers and tail [[coverts]] were [[maroon (color)|maroon]]. The bill was greenish with a darker tip, and the legs were dark [[slate-grey]]. The [[iris (anatomy)|iris]] was reddish orange and had an inner yellow ring.{{sfn|Hume|Walters|2012|pp=159–160}}
The bird was 30 cm (12 in) in length, the wings were 208 mm (8.2 in), the tail was 132 mm (5.2 in), the [[Culmen (bird)|culmen]] was 25 mm (1 in), and the [[tarsus (skeleton)|tarsals]] were 28 mm (1.10 in).<ref name="Fuller Extinct"/> It was the largest and most robust member of its genus, and the hackles were longer and covered a larger area than in other blue pigeons. A Mauritian woman recalling observations of Mauritius blue pigeons around 1815 mentioned green as one of its colours. Juvenile Seychelles and Comoro blue pigeons have green feathers, so this may also have been the case for juvenile Mauritian pigeons.{{sfn|Hume|2011|p=35}}
Some depictions and descriptions have shown the legs of Mauritius blue pigeons as red, like those of the Madagascar blue pigeon. The legs of the Paris specimen were painted red when the original colour faded, presumably on the basis of such accounts. The legs of the two other surviving specimens have not been painted and have faded to a yellowish brown. This feature is not mentioned in contemporary accounts, and such depictions are thought to be erroneous. Some modern illustrations of the bird have also depicted it with facial [[crenulation]]s, like those of the Seychelles blue pigeon.{{sfn|Hume|2011|p=36}} This feature was unknown from contemporary accounts, until the 1660s report of Johannes Pretorius about his stay on Mauritius was published in 2015, where he mentioned the bird's "warty face".<ref name="Pretorius">{{Cite journal | doi = 10.1080/08912963.2015.1036750| title = Captive birds on Dutch Mauritius: Bad-tempered parrots, warty pigeons and notes on other native animals| journal = Historical Biology| volume = 28| issue = 6| pages = 1| year = 2015| last1 = Hume | first1 = J. P. | last2 = Winters | first2 = R. | s2cid = 84473440}}</ref>
▲===Misidentified records===
▲A blue pigeon recorded as being from Mauritius was brought to the Netherlands around 1790, where it survived in the [[menagerie]] of [[William V, Prince of Orange]] for three months before dying of [[oedema]]. The only known [[life drawings]] thought to show the species depict this individual; they were drawn by the Dutch artist Gijsbertus Haasbroek and first published by Piet Tuijn in 1969 (along with the ''Gelderland'' sketches). The illustrations show a [[displaying]] male raising its hackles into a [[Ruff (bird)|ruff]]. This is a characteristic behaviour of other blue pigeons, too, and they can also vibrate their hackles.{{sfn|Hume|2011|p=35}}<ref name="Tuijn">{{cite journal|last1=Tuijn|first1=P.|title=Notes on the extinct pigeon from Mauritius, ''Alectroenas nitidissima'' (Scopoli, 1786)|journal=Beaufortia|date=1969|volume=16|issue=218|pages=163–170|url=http://repository.naturalis.nl/record/504777|issn=0067-4745}}</ref> The following description of the display behaviour and [[Bird call|call]]s of this individual was written on the back on the coloured drawing by Arnout Vosmaer, director of the menagerie:
▲{{multiple image
▲|align = right
▲|total_width = 350
▲|image1 = Pigeon Hollandais.jpg
▲|image2 = Pavillon Hollandais.jpg
▲|image3 = Seychelles Blue Pigeon by Gijsbertus Haasbroek .jpg
▲|footer = [[Life drawings]] long thought to depict a displaying Mauritius blue pigeon, but now believed to have been a [[Seychelles blue pigeon]], by Gijsbertus Haasbroek, ca. 1790
▲}}
▲Unlike the three surviving skins of Mauritius blue pigeons, Haasbroek's illustration shows a red forehead. Both sexes of the Seychelles blue pigeon also have red foreheads, and the English palaeontologist [[Julian P. Hume]] suggested that the image depicts a male, which was described as "infinitely more handsome" than the female by Cossigny in the mid-18th century. Hume therefore interpreted the three surviving skins as belonging to female specimens.{{sfn|Hume|2011|p=35}}
▲In 2020, the Dutch researcher and artist Ria Winters noted that the depicted bird was in fact a Seychelles blue pigeon.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Winters |first1=R. |title=The Dutch East India Company and the Transport of Live Exotic Animals in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries |journal=Animal Trade Histories in the Indian Ocean World |date=2020 |pages=27–63 |doi=10.1007/978-3-030-42595-1_2|isbn=978-3-030-42594-4 }}</ref> The British ecologist [[Anthony S. Cheke]] elaborated on this point in 2020 (after a third Haasbroek illustration of this indiviual resurfaced at an auction), and noted that because one of Haasbroek's paintings was originally published in [[monochrome]] in 1969, this may have blinded later researchers, even when the coloured version resurfaced. Cheke found it perfectly clear that the colouration was consistent with a Seychelles blue pigeon, as its tail is dark blue instead of red, and the crown is red instead of white. Cheke also suggested that the name ''"pavillons hollandais"'' mentioned by Vosmaer was a corruption of ''pigeon hollandais'', the name also used for the Mauritius blue pigeon, as both species have the red, white and blue colours similar to the Dutch flag. While Vosmaer's record of the bird coming from Mauritius was misleading, it may have been correct since it was probably shipped from the Seychelles via Mauritius, and would likely therefore have been reported as such (the Seychelles were a [[Dependent territory|dependency]] of Mauritius at the time).<ref name="Error"/>
== Behaviour and ecology ==
[[File:Alectroenas nitidissima tarsometatarsus.jpg|thumb|Subfossil [[tarsometatarsus]] leg-bone in [[Naturalis Biodiversity Center]]]] ▼
Few descriptions of the behaviour of Mauritius blue pigeons are known; unpublished notes by Desjardins are now lost.{{sfn|Hume|2011|p=35}} The bird probably lived in pairs or small groups in humid, mountainous [[evergreen forest]]s, like their extant relatives.{{sfn|Hume|Walters|2012|pp=159–160}} Subfossil remains have been found in mid-west, mid-east and south-east Mauritius, indicating that the bird was once widespread. By 1812, the French naturalist [[Jacques Gérard Milbert]] stated that solitary individuals were found in river valleys. They probably became rarer during French rule in Mauritius (1715–1810), as lowland areas of the island were almost completely [[deforested]] during this time.{{sfn|Hume|2011|p=37}}
▲[[File:Alectroenas nitidissima tarsometatarsus.jpg|thumb|Subfossil [[tarsometatarsus]] leg-bone in [[Naturalis Biodiversity Center]]]]
Many other endemic species of Mauritius became extinct after the arrival of
=== Diet ===
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{{quotation | When she was a girl and used to go into the forest with her father de Chazal, she has seen quantities of Pigeon Hollandais and Merles [''[[Hypsipetes olivaceus]]''], both species were so tame they might be knocked down with sticks, & her father used to kill more that way than by shooting them, as she was a nervous child. Her father always warned her before he fired, but she would entreat him to knock the bird down with his stick & not to shoot it – she said the last Pigeon Hollandais she saw was about 27 years ago just after she married poor old Moon, it was brought out of the forest by a [[Maroon (people)|marron]]. She said it was larger than a tame pigeon & was all the colours of the rainbow, particularly about the head, red, green & blue.{{sfn|Hume|2011|p=38}} }}
It can be concluded that the Mauritius blue pigeon became extinct in the 1830s. Apart from [[habitat destruction]] and hunting, introduced predators, mainly [[crab-eating macaque]]s, were probably also responsible.<ref name="Fuller Extinct"/>
== References ==
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| doi = 10.11646/zootaxa.3124.1.1
| s2cid = 86886330
}}
| |||