Thick-billed Ground Dove Pampusana salamonis Scientific name definitions

c. 25 cm. Similar to the Shy Ground Dove (Pampusana stairi) but has thicker bill with more deeply curved culmen; reddish brown above with purple iridescence, especially on mantle and wing-coverts; head pale chocolate brown, paler on face; breast shield light reddish brown, small purple patch at each side of breast; rest of underparts dark reddish brown.

Closely allied to the Santa Cruz Ground Dove (Pampusana sanctaecrucis) and (especially) Shy Ground Dove (Pampusana stairi), and more distantly so to the White-bibbed Ground Dove (Pampusana jobiensis) group. Monotypic.

Surveys on Makira in 1990s (1 Buckingham, D. L., G. C. L. Dutson, and J. L. Newman (1995). Birds of Manus, Kolombangara and Makira (San Cristobal) with Notes on Mammals and Records from other Solomon Islands. Report of the Cambridge Solomons Rainforest Project 1990. Unpublished. Close ) were unsuccessful. Recent surveys on Ramos also failed to find this species, and it was not known to landowners; it might conceivably occur in other habitats, for instance by swamps, but this seems very unlikely. Extinction due to introduced mammalian predators and habitat loss, as well as hunting pressure.

Southeastern Solomon Islands, where known only from two specimens of unknown sex: one from Makira (San Cristobal), taken in 1882; the other from tiny (c. 4 ha) Ramos Island, between Santa Isabel and Malaita, in 1927.

EXTINCT. Has not been recorded since 1927. Like other members of the genus, it is very shy and inconspicuous, and may be confused with the more abundant and partially sympatric Bronze Ground Dove (Pampusana beccarii). If the species survives, it faces two particularly severe threats: habitat loss, as most accessible forest on San Cristobal has been targeted for logging; and introduced predators, e.g., feral cats, which have wiped out all native terrestrial mammals on nearby Guadalcanal. It is plausible that the complete lack of recent observations could be because the species actually inhabits a different habitat to that in which it is expected to occur; for instance, it might turn out to inhabit swamps, which to date have not been surveyed. Thorough surveys urgently needed in order to locate any populations that may still survive; in the event of their discovery, intensive research would become an immediate priority.