Bruce's Green-Pigeon Treron waalia Scientific name definitions

28–30 cm; 251–268 g. Head , neck and breast light greenish grey; mantle, back, rump, scapulars, most wing-coverts, and innermost secondaries light yellowish olive-green; central lower breast and belly bright yellow, greyish green sides to breast; flanks and tibial feathers dark green with whitish borders; long undertail coverts chestnut or mixed olive and chestnut with broad creamy tips; lesser wing-coverts mostly light purple forming large patch on shoulder of wing; primaries, outer secondaries and outermost greater wing-coverts blackish, the former narrowly and the latter broadly fringed yellow, forming conspicuous stripes on the closed wing; tail feathers dark grey, usually washed green, with broad light grey tips, the two central ones almost uniform grey or grey-green; undertail blackish, conspicuously and broadly tipped pale grey; bill bluish white or pale bluish grey with dark purplish base; legs and feet yellow or orange with pale claws. Sexes similar but female slightly smaller and duller. Juvenile at first greyer and duller with very woolly plumage, and only a trace of purple on bend of wing.

S Mauritania and Senegambia E through Sahel zone to Eritrea and N Somalia and S to N Uganda; also Socotra, Yemen, SW Saudi Arabia and extreme W Oman (Dhofar).

Densely wooded valleys, forest patches near water-holes, and less commonly savanna and thorn-scrub woodland in Sahel zone, ranging from sea-level up to 2000 m.

Little information; in Africa, resident in many areas, although at least partially nomadic in response to food and water availability, e.g. in N Nigeria. Recorded in Egypt in Jan 2011 (1 van der Veen, S.R. (2011). Bruce’s Green Pigeon at Luxor, Egypt, in January 2011. Dutch Birding. 33: 121–122. Close ). Resident in SW Arabia and Socotra I, with highland populations dispersing to lowland areas in winter. A fast flier.

Frugivorous; reported to feed largely on various species of figs (Mora­ceae), particularly Ficus platyphylla and, in Sudan, F. sycamorus; also known to feed on fruits of Podocarpus and Zizyphus. Feeds mainly in the canopy and very rarely comes to the ground except to drink; may converge on fruiting trees in large flocks of 50 or more birds, occasionally in company with T. calvus.

Rather stereotyped phrase with slight variations. Typically starts with an accelerating croaking rattle, followed by a drawn-out melodious whistle that ends in two “hiccups” followed by a series of bisyllabic notes alternated with short grunts. Complete phrase lasts c. 8 seconds.

Recorded Dec–Sept in W Africa; Nov–May in N parts of E Africa; and Apr–May in rest of E Africa; in Arabia, young in nest May–Jun, but eggs also reported in Jul. Nest is frail platform of twigs in tree or shrub, often in terminal twigs of a thick tree, 2·5–8 m up; most commonly nests in date palm groves on Socotra. Lays 1–2 glossy white eggs.

Not globally threatened. Frequent to locally abundant throughout much of its range, although apparently commoner in first half of 20th century. Not uncommon in Gambia; common in Ghana, Togo and Nigeria. Reported to be subject to severe hunting pressure for sport, and as a result species is shy and timid. CITES III in Ghana.