Caloenas

Caloenas
Adult Nicobar pigeon
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Columbiformes
Family:	Columbidae
Genus:	Caloenas G.R. Gray, 1840

Caloenas is a genus of pigeons. The only living species is the Nicobar pigeon (C. nicobarica).

One or two extinct species are known: Caloenas canacorum was a large species from New Caledonia and Tonga. It is only known by subfossil remains and was probably hunted to extinction by the early settlers. The Liverpool pigeon, another extinct species from an unknown locality, has only a slightly similarity to the Nicobar pigeon due to its neck feathers. Ornithologists place it in this genus but there is not a unanimous agreement. One surviving specimen exists in the Liverpool Museum.

Species

• Nicobar pigeon (Caloenas nicobarica)
• †Kanaka pigeon (Caloenas canacorum) Balouet & Olson, 1989
• †Liverpool pigeon (Caloenas maculata)

References

• Steadman, David William (2006). Extinction and Biogeography of Tropical Pacific Birds. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0-226-77142-3.