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a-dinosaur-a-day · 6 years ago

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Lopholaimus antarcticus

By Tony Castro, CC BY-SA 4.0

Etymology: Tuft Throat

First Described By: Gould, 1841

Classification: Dinosauromorpha, Dinosauriformes, Dracohors, Dinosauria, Saurischia, Eusaurischia, Theropoda, Neotheropoda, Averostra, Tetanurae, Orionides, Avetheropoda, Coelurosauria, Tyrannoraptora, Maniraptoromorpha, Maniraptoriformes, Maniraptora, Pennaraptora, Paraves, Eumaniraptora, Averaptora, Avialae, Euavialae, Avebrevicauda, Pygostaylia, Ornithothoraces, Euornithes, Ornithuromorpha, Ornithurae, Neornithes, Neognathae, Neoaves, Columbaves, Columbimorphae, Columbiformes, Columbidae, Raphinae, Ptilinopini

Status: Extant, Least Concern

Time and Place: Within the last 10,000 years; in the Holocene epoch of the Quaternary period

The Topknot Pigeon, Lopholaimus, is known almost entirely from the eastern coast of Australia

Physical Description: The Topknot Pigeon is a large bird, about 45 centimeters long, about a foot longer than the common Rock Pigeon. This is mainly due to an extremely long tail; in general, this is a very display-focused pigeon, with a distinctive crown of red feathers extending from the back of the head down towards the neck, in addition to a ring of red around the eyes, a red beak, and a stripe across the tail feathers. In general it is grey and black in color. It also has puffy feathers along the neck, though this is fairly common as far as pigeons go. Interestingly enough, the feathers themselves have pale fringes, rather than dark ones, which gives the Topknot Pigeon a deceptively scaly appearance. Both of the sexes are alike.

Diet: The Topknot Pigeon mainly eats on fruit, especially berries and smaller fruits that aren’t longer than about an inch. It especially enjoys fruits from palms, laurels, mulberries and figs, citruses, and myrtles. They feed mainly in the tree canopy, though they do extend into the understory and brush; they climb among branches and even hang upside-down to reach fruit.

Behavior: These birds form large feeding flocks, which are easily located due to their loud flapping and the sound of fruit falling from the trees. Despite this, they aren’t actually very loud, though they will make low, short croaks much like a dog’s barking. This species is nomadic, moving across large areas to find food - they’ll form flocks mainly of convenience, with large groups gathering together in reaction to fruiting flocks. These flocks become somewhat less cohesive during the breeding season, when they fly back and forth between roosting and feeding areas.

The Topknot Pigeon mainly breeds in the spring and early summer over a long period, with eggs visible in nests anywhere from June to December. They nest very high in trees, as much as 9 stories high, though they do sometimes nest lower to the ground. THey make large nests, with one white egg at a time. The chicks are altricial - meaning, entirely dependant on the parents for help until old enough to care for itself. Both parents aid in incubation, though their breeding behavior is poorly known and rarely observed.

Ecosystem: The Topknot Pigeon mainly lives in rainforests and other wet forests, as well as open forests. They can be found in coastal forest and agricultural areas. They mainly roost in canopy trees and other high spots.

Other: This bird is currently not threatened with extinction, with a population known of over 70,000 birds.

~ By Meig Dickson

Sources under the cut

Baptista, L.F., Trail, P.W., Horblit, H.M. & Boesman, P. 2018. Topknot Pigeon (Lopholaimus antarcticus). In: del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., Sargatal, J., Christie, D.A. & de Juana, E. (eds.). Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona.

Jobling, J. A. 2010. The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. Christopher Helm Publishing, A&C Black Publishers Ltd, London.

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