pombo-coroado-de-choiseul

The Choiseul Pigeon (Microgoura meeki), also known as the Choiseul Ground-Pigeon, was a large, flightless or near-flightless ground-dwelling pigeon endemic to Choiseul Island in the Solomon Islands, western Pacific Ocean. It belonged to the monotypic genus Microgoura and is considered one of the most distinctive pigeons ever described — the species bore a striking blue facial skin, a prominent erectile crest, and a long tail unusual among terrestrial pigeons. The last confirmed specimens were collected in 1904; since then, despite searches, no living individuals have been found and the species is considered Extinct by the IUCN. The extinction is attributable to a combination of factors: introduction of cats and other predators to Choiseul, hunting by local people, and forest clearance for agricultural settlement. The bird's ground-dwelling habits and apparent tameness or flightlessness would have made it acutely vulnerable to mammalian predation, a pattern repeated across Pacific island pigeons and rails. The type specimens collected by Albert Stewart Meek — for whom the species is named — remain housed in natural history museums and constitute the only physical evidence of the species. The Choiseul Pigeon stands as a cautionary example of island extinction through the combined pressures of invasive species and human hunting.