Dodo's relative found in Australia

                                                                             Photo - (Creative Commons: Tomfriedel)

Nicobar Pigeon found for first time

on Australian mainland

A rainbow-coloured pigeon native to islands of the Indian and Pacific oceans has been discovered for the first time in Australian.   The Nicobar Pigeon (Caloenas nicobarica) is the closest living relative to the extinct Dodo, and is named for the Nicobar Islands of India, 4,000km north of the Australian coast.   The unexpected visitor (apparently one of two) was found by indigenous Bardi Jawa rangers near Broome, on the coast of northwest Australia.   The Nicobar Pigeon is classified as 'Near Threatened' on the IUCN red list.   Rain-forest clearing of the pigeon's native southeast Asian islands has prompted population decline, but there is no accurate estimate of the wild population because its range is so vast.
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BarrytheBirder