Nicobar Pigeon (Birds of Timor-Leste)

Nicobar Pigeon

Caloenas nicobarica

Summary ⁷

The Nicobar Pigeon (Caloenas nicobarica) is a pigeon found on small islands and in coastal regions from the Nicobar Islands, east through the Malay Archipelago, to the Solomons and Palau. It is the only living member of the genus Caloenas.

Range description ⁸

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.