Caloenas nicobarica

Taxonomy

Assessment Information

Geographic Range

Population

Habitat and Ecology

Threats

Conservation Actions

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Taxonomy [top]

Kingdom	Phylum	Class	Order	Family
ANIMALIA	CHORDATA	AVES	COLUMBIFORMES	COLUMBIDAE

Scientific Name:

Caloenas nicobarica

Species Authority:

(Linnaeus, 1758)

Common Name/s:

English	–	Nicobar Dove, Nicobar Pigeon
Spanish	–	Paloma de Nicobar

Assessment Information [top]

Red List Category & Criteria:

Near Threatened ver 3.1

Year Published:

2012

Assessor/s:

BirdLife International

Reviewer/s:

Butchart, S. & Symes, A.

Contributor/s:

Justification:
This species is classified as Near Threatened because throughout its wide range it is thought to be declining as a result of capture for food and the pet trade, habitat destruction and predation by introduced mammals.

History:

2008	–	Near Threatened
2004	–	Near Threatened

Geographic Range [top]

Range Description:	Caloenas nicobarica is a small island specialist, it occurs on the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India, Mergui archipelago (Myeik Kyunzu), Myanmar, islands off south-west peninsular Thailand, islands around Peninsular Malaysia, islands off southern Cambodia and Vietnam, islands around Sumatra, Wallacea and Papua (formerly Irian Jaya), Indonesia, possibly also Timor-Leste, many islands in the Philippines, islands in Papua New Guinea and throughout the Solomon Islands, plus Palau (race pelewensis). Generally scarce throughout its range, it is most abundant on the smallest, least disturbed islands. The distinctive race pelewensis was thought to still number up to 1,000 birds in 1985.
Countries:	Native: Cambodia; India; Indonesia; Malaysia; Myanmar; Palau; Papua New Guinea; Philippines; Solomon Islands; Thailand; Viet Nam
Range Map:	Click here to open the map viewer and explore range.

Range Description:

Caloenas nicobarica is a small island specialist, it occurs on the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India, Mergui archipelago (Myeik Kyunzu), Myanmar, islands off south-west peninsular Thailand, islands around Peninsular Malaysia, islands off southern Cambodia and Vietnam, islands around Sumatra, Wallacea and Papua (formerly Irian Jaya), Indonesia, possibly also Timor-Leste, many islands in the Philippines, islands in Papua New Guinea and throughout the Solomon Islands, plus Palau (race pelewensis). Generally scarce throughout its range, it is most abundant on the smallest, least disturbed islands. The distinctive race pelewensis was thought to still number up to 1,000 birds in 1985.

Countries:

Native:

Cambodia; India; Indonesia; Malaysia; Myanmar; Palau; Papua New Guinea; Philippines; Solomon Islands; Thailand; Viet Nam

Range Map:

Click here to open the map viewer and explore range.

Population [top]

Population:	The global population size has not been quantified, but the species is described as generally scarce to rare, although locally commoner on smaller islets (Gibbs et al. 2001).
Population Trend:	Decreasing

Habitat and Ecology [top]

Habitat and Ecology:	It normally breeds, often in dense colonies, on extremely small, wooded offshore islands and forages in situ or on adjacent mainland (or larger island) areas up to at least 500 m. It prefers uninhabited and remote islets with original forest vegetation, though these must be close enough to large areas of lowland rainforest which it requires for foraging.
Systems:	Terrestrial

Threats [top]

Major Threat(s):	Trapping for food, the pet trade and perhaps for their gizzard-stones is a serious threat. The clearance of small islands for plantations and the adjacent areas of lowland forest which it requires for foraging must have reduced numbers. Predation by rats Rattus spp., cats and other alien predators at nesting grounds can affect large numbers of birds due to the colonial nature of the species.

Major Threat(s):

Trapping for food, the pet trade and perhaps for their gizzard-stones is a serious threat. The clearance of small islands for plantations and the adjacent areas of lowland forest which it requires for foraging must have reduced numbers. Predation by rats Rattus spp., cats and other alien predators at nesting grounds can affect large numbers of birds due to the colonial nature of the species.

Conservation Actions [top]

Conservation Actions:	Conservation Actions Underway CITES Appendix I. Conservation Actions Proposed Research population size and trends. Protect known breeding islands from clearance for plantations. Preserve areas of lowland forest close to breeding islands. Educate people who live close to breeding islands to prevent trapping for food and the pet trade. Eradicate rats Rattus spp., cats and other alien predators on particularly important breeding islands. Prevent further introductions of alien predators to breeding islands.

Conservation Actions:

Conservation Actions Underway
CITES Appendix I.

Conservation Actions Proposed
Research population size and trends. Protect known breeding islands from clearance for plantations. Preserve areas of lowland forest close to breeding islands. Educate people who live close to breeding islands to prevent trapping for food and the pet trade. Eradicate rats Rattus spp., cats and other alien predators on particularly important breeding islands. Prevent further introductions of alien predators to breeding islands.

Citation:	BirdLife International 2012. Caloenas nicobarica. In: IUCN 2012. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2012.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 20 May 2013.
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